Afghan Taliban appoint a new leader, Kabul urges peace
KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – The Afghan Taliban named an Islamic legal scholar who was one of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s deputies to succeed him on Wednesday, after confirming Mansour’s death in a U.S. drone strike at the weekend.
Former Canadian PM Harper to leave politics, reports say
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will leave politics later this year, possibly to join U.S. private equity firm KKR, according to domestic media reports.
Italian navy says migrant boat flipped, five dead
ROME (Reuters) – A large wooden fishing boat overcrowded with migrants capsized off the coast of Libya, the Italian navy said on Wednesday, with some 562 people rescued and five found dead.
‘In’ camp keeps almost all its lead ahead of EU vote: Survation poll
LONDON (Reuters) – The campaign to keep Britain in the European Union has maintained almost all its lead over the “Leave” camp ahead of next month’s referendum, according to a Survation poll for online brokerage group IG.
Japan PM protests against Okinawa incident at summit with Obama
ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday he lodged a stern protest with U.S. President Barack Obama following the arrest last week of a U.S. base worker in connection with the death of a Japanese woman in Okinaw…
Afghan draft law must stop punishing women over ‘moral crimes’: rights group
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Afghanistan’s president should ensure that the country’s draft penal code upholds women’s rights by banning “virginity exams” and outlawing the imprisonment of women and girls accused of so-called moral crimes, Hum…
Aid experts give first World Humanitarian Summit mixed report card
ISTANBUL (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The World Humanitarian Summit has reinforced the urgent need for people hit by conflict and disasters to receive better help, but the first meeting of its kind may not trigger the changes necessary to fix their p…
Clearout of Greek refugee camp should reopen economic artery
IDOMENI, Greece (Reuters) – Greece has sent in police and bulldozers to clear out Europe’s biggest refugee camp because of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions there, but the operation should also unblock a vital artery for the ailing economy.
Cambodia PM sets 2018 election date, opposition leaders face legal charges
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodia’s next election will be in July 2018, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Wednesday, as leaders of the opposition face legal charges they say are politically motivated to stop them challenging the veteran premier in the …
U.S.-backed Syrian militias not preparing assault on Islamic State capital: spokesman
BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.S.-backed Syrian militias are not preparing an assault on Islamic State’s de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa at present, a militia spokesman said, indicating the limited scope of a new offensive in nearby areas where fighting raged o…
