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DOHA (Reuters) – Yemen’s al Qaeda branch on Saturday confirmed it had withdrawn from the Yemeni seaport of Mukalla a week after government and Emirati soldiers seized the city used by Islamist militants to amass a fortune amid the chaos of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.
Germany to ask European Commission to allow extension of border controls
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany will ask the European Commission to allow an extension of temporary border controls within the Schengen zone of passport-free travel beyond mid-May, Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere said on Saturday.
China, Japan more upbeat on ties but challenges remain
BEIJING (Reuters) – China and Japan both expressed a willingness to improve strained relations on Saturday after a rare meeting between their two foreign ministers in Beijing, though China said Japan should stop pushing the notion that China is a threa…
Afghan forces launch push against Taliban
KABUL (Reuters) – Government forces have launched operations against the Taliban in 18 provinces of Afghanistan as fighting has intensified since the start of the insurgents’ spring offensive this month, the ministry of defense said on Saturday.
