Niger opposition group calls for boycott of run-off vote
NIAMEY (Reuters) – An opposition coalition in Niger says it will boycott a run-off election on Sunday it says is tainted by fraud and called on its supporters not to vote, paving the way for President Mahamadou Issoufou to win a second term.
U.N. chief disappointed by Security Council on Western Sahara: spokesman
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was disappointed by the Security Council’s failure to take a strong stand in a dispute between him and Morocco over Western Sahara and will raise it with council members soon, Ban’…
Exclusive: Ukraine’s Yanukovich says assets seizure is attempt to hide Kiev’s failings
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich said on Friday Kiev’s new government was trying to obscure its failings by pushing through a law to confiscate his alleged offshore assets.
Shaky EU-Turkey deal faces tough reality checks
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A deal between the European Union and Turkey meant to curb the flow of migrants into Europe in return for financial and political rewards could unravel within months because neither side looks able to deliver on its commitments.
U.N. sounds alarm over violence against indigenous activists in recession-hit Brazil
TORONTO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As recession bites and land disputes hit Brazil’s agricultural heartland, indigenous people face land grabs and assaults by violent gangs, said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on the rights of…
Dutchman Geert Wilders tells court: ‘I want fewer Moroccans’
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch politician who wants to ban Muslim immigration in Europe, defied prosecutors by telling the court on Friday he wants fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands, echoing comments for which he is standing …
Zimbabwe’s Mugabe says will consider retiring if war veterans ask him
HARARE (Reuters) – President Robert Mugabe on Friday said veterans of Zimbabwe’s independence war had indicated they wanted him to retire and he would consider it if they asked him directly.
Two years after annexation, Putin seeks to bind Crimea by bridge to Russia
Tuzla Island, CRIMEA (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin, marking the anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, on Friday exhorted workers building a bridge between the Black Sea peninsula and Russia to fulfil an “historic mission” first conceived…
U.S., Philippines agree on five base locations under defense deal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and the Philippines have agreed on five locations for U.S. military facilities in the Philippines under a security deal agreed amid rising tensions with China, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.
Former German Foreign Minister Westerwelle dies at 54
BERLIN (Reuters) – Former German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, the first openly gay leader of a mainstream political party, has died from blood cancer at the age of 54, his foundation said on its website on Friday.
