Sadr followers dig in inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, political crisis deepens
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Hundreds of supporters of Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed parliament inside Baghdad’s Green Zone on Saturday and camped out nearby after Sadr denounced politicians’ failure to reform a political quota system blamed for…
Blacklisted oil tanker returns to Libya’s Zawiya port
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – A tanker that Libya’s rival eastern government had been using to try to export oil in defiance of the Western-backed administration in Tripoli returned to the country on Saturday, after it was blacklisted by the United Nations, the …
Canada eager to consider investing in new Montreal rail network – Trudeau
TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian government is eager to consider joining the pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec in investing in a new public transport light rail network in Montreal, the third-largest of its kind in the world, Prime Mi…
Saudi hands over Houthi prisoners as Yemen peace efforts inch ahead: spokesman
DOHA (Reuters) – Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Saturday its foe Saudi Arabia had handed over 40 prisoners as part of an agreement to quell border fighting as U.N.-backed peace negotiations to end Yemen’s civil war crept forward.
Kenya burns vast piles of elephant tusks as it seeks ban on trade
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s president set fire to thousands of elephant tusks and rhino horns on Saturday, destroying a stockpile that would have been worth a fortune to smugglers and sending a message that trade in the animal parts must be stopped.
Rescuers search rubble of Nairobi building, at least 12 dead
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Rescue workers raced on Saturday to save more residents from the rubble of a six-storey building in Nairobi after it collapsed overnight following heavy rain. At least 12 people were confirmed dead.
Egypt puts on trial 237 activists for protests against Sisi: sources
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt put on trial 237 activists arrested for protesting against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, judicial sources said on Saturday, the first court cases after demonstrations this month.
Firebrand Malema rallies South Africa’s poor pledging land, jobs, wifi
SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA (Reuters) – The firebrand leader of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters on Saturday launched his party’s campaign for what are expected to be closely-fought local elections, promising to rescue voters from poverty, unemploymen…
France to increase troop numbers in Ivory Coast after beach attack
GRAND BASSAM, Ivory Coast (Reuters) – France will nearly double the number of troops it has in Ivory Coast, the defense minister said on Saturday on a visit during which he laid flowers at the site of an attack on tourists that killed 19 people.
Al Qaeda in Yemen confirms retreat from port city of Mukalla
DOHA (Reuters) – Yemen’s al Qaeda branch on Saturday confirmed it had withdrawn from the Yemeni seaport of Mukalla a week after government and Emirati soldiers seized the city used by Islamist militants to amass a fortune amid the chaos of civil war.
