Protesters deliver big petition against China dog-meat festival
BEIJING (Reuters) – Animal rights activists calling for an end to the slaughter and eating of dogs at a Chinese festival delivered a petition with 11 million signatures to authorities in Beijing on Friday.
Exclusive: Obama approves broader role for U.S. forces in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has approved giving the U.S. military greater ability to accompany and enable Afghan forces battling a resilient Taliban insurgency, in a move to assist them more proactively on the battlefield, a U.S. offi…
Merkel says Russia sanctions no end in themselves, but implementing peace deal is key
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that sanctions imposed against Russia over the Ukraine crisis were not an end in themselves and that implementation of the Minsk peace agreement was key to getting them lifted.
Fight over Ramadan led to blaze at German refugee center: prosecutor
BERLIN (Reuters) – Residents of a refugee center in the German city of Duesseldorf set their shelter alight after a fight among Muslim refugees over Ramadan meals, a prosecutor said on Friday, in an incident that is likely to increase unease among anti…
South Africa’s Zuma appeals reinstatement of graft charges against him
PRETORIA (Reuters) – South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and the state prosecutor launched an appeal on Friday against a High Court ruling to reinstate 783 corruption charges against the head of state.
Kurdish militant group says it was behind Istanbul bombing
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, said on Friday it carried out a suicide bombing in Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul this week that killed 11 peopl…
Paris deploys private trash trucks to beat strike as Euro soccer starts
PARIS (Reuters) – The French authorities sent in private rubbish collection trucks to clear piles of rotting garbage from Paris streets on Friday and told striking public sector workers they would not be allowed to disrupt Europe’s soccer championship….
Russia: We will respond to entry of U.S. naval vessel into Black Sea
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian Foreign ministry said Moscow would respond to a U.S. naval ship’s entry into the Black Sea with unspecified measures, saying it and other deployments were designed to ratchet up tensions ahead of a NATO summit, the RIA ne…
Kazakh forces kill five linked to suspected Islamist attack
ALMATY (Reuters) – Kazakh security forces killed five suspected militants on Friday linked to deadly attacks this week on a national guard base and several firearms shops in the city of Aktobe, the National Security Committee (KNB) said.
Russia says Al Nusra shelling military, civilian areas in Aleppo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Al Nusra militants are carrying out mortar attacks on positions held by the Syrian Army and Kurdish militia as well as civilian areas in Aleppo, RIA news agency cited the Russian ceasefire monitoring center in Syria as saying on Frid…
