Pressure grows on Jakarta to tackle indigenous rights abuses
JAKARTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Indonesia’s government is under pressure to boost protection for indigenous peoples’ rights, after a state-led inquiry identified 40 cases in which they were violated, prompting calls for the president to set up a…
Syrian forces fight their way into Palmyra, as Kerry and Putin hail thaw
GENEVA/MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian troops backed by Russian air support fought their way into the Islamic State-held city of Palmyra on Thursday, their biggest offensive yet against the jihadist caliphate, as Moscow and Washington discussed how to…
Nigeria targets 300 army officers, firms, in widening corruption probe
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria has accused 300 firms and individuals, including army officers, of embezzling 48 billion naira ($241.45 million) through overpaid defense contracts or fraud, the presidency said on Thursday in a widening a crackdown on graft.
Morocco says Western Sahara decision ‘irreversible’, U.N. council ‘concerned’
RABAT/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Morocco’s decision to reduce United Nations staff at the Western Sahara mission is sovereign and irreversible, but the government is committed to military cooperation with the U.N. to guarantee the ceasefire there, the …
Egypt says murdered Italian student’s bag found with gang
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Interior Ministry said on Thursday that security forces had retrieved a bag and passport belonging to murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni that was in the possession of a criminal gang impersonating policemen who had been ki…
Israel slams U.N. body’s call for ‘blacklist’ of settlement companies
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel on Thursday assailed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for adopting a measure that calls for the establishment of a database of businesses “involved in activities” in the occupied West Bank.
North Korea claims rocket engine success; South on high alert
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea successfully tested a solid-fuel engine that boosted the power of its ballistic rockets, state media reported on Thursday, as South Korea’s president ordered the military to be ready to respond to the North’s “reckless pro…
Brexit referendum forces EU summit delay: sources
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The British referendum on whether to leave the European Union has prompted Brussels officials to plan to postpone an EU summit scheduled on the same day, two diplomatic sources told Reuters.
Brussels bomber brothers were on U.S. watch lists before attack: sources
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two brothers who carried out suicide bombings in Brussels this week were known to U.S. government agencies before the attacks, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Kurdish militants attack Turkish gendarmerie station, kill two
DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) – Two Turkish gendarmerie were killed in a car bomb attack by the Kurdish militant group PKK on their station in Turkey’s southeast, security sources said on Thursday.
