Two-thirds of Venezuelans say Maduro presidency should end this year: poll
CARACAS (Reuters) – Just under two-thirds of Venezuelans think Nicolas Maduro’s presidency should end this year as the opposition pushes to oust him amid a grueling economic crisis, a survey by a leading pollster said.
Iraq’s Sadr may extend sit-in to demand reforms: TV
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Powerful Iraqi Shi’ite Muslim leader Moqtada al-Sadr may extend a sit-in protest that his followers are holding in Baghdad to demand a government overhaul to fight corruption, local television said on Saturday.
Suicide bomber kills 26, wounds 71 south of Baghdad: official
HILLA, Iraq (Reuters) – A suicide attacker detonated an explosive belt in a park outside Baghdad on Friday, killing 26 people and wounding 71, said the security head in Babel province where the bomb – claimed by Islamic State – went off.
U.N. chief presses Iraq on national reconciliation to defeat Islamic State
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on the Iraqi government on Saturday to step up efforts to foster reconciliation between the nation’s Shi’ite and Sunni Muslim communities in order to combat Islamic State.
Burundi rebel group says behind killing of senior army officer
NAIROBI (Reuters) – A Burundi rebel group led by a former officer who launched an abortive coup claimed responsibility on Saturday for the killing of an army colonel this week in the capital, the group said on a Twitter account.
Islamic State dealt hefty body blow with death of top aide: officials
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Islamic State will struggle to recover from the death of a top aide, reported this week in a U.S. air strike, whose overview of the group’s finances, politics and administration was unmatched, Iraqi and U.S. sources said.
Kremlin: No Russian troops in Ukraine’s Donbass, but there are Russian ‘citizens’ – RIA
MOSCOW (Reuters) – There are no Russian troops in the Moscow-leaning Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, and there have never been, but there are Russian citizens who stand by local residents, RIA news agency quoted the Kremlin as saying on Saturday.
Turkey’s Erdogan criticizes foreign diplomats for attending journalists’ trial
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday harshly criticized foreign diplomats in Turkey for attending the trial of two prominent journalists charged with espionage, saying their behavior was not in line with diplomatic protocol…
Egypt orders detention of four related to murdered Italian student: sources
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian prosecutors ordered the detention of four relatives of the head of an alleged criminal gang which police said was found with belongings of murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni, judicial sources said on Saturday.
Viewed as gangsters, Brussels bombers were able to plot unseen
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The Bakraoui brothers’ evolution from violent criminals to Islamist suicide bombers fits a pattern of time spent in jail for gun crime, followed by dodged parole meetings and missed opportunities to spot their drift into Islamic St…
