Kuwait security chief to Obama: we’re not free-riders
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwait is not a “free-rider” in U.S.-led campaigns against terrorism and other threats, a senior Kuwaiti security official said on Thursday, rejecting comments by President Barack Obama critical of some U.S. allies.
Norwegian jail defends 400 strip searches of killer Breivik
OSLO (Reuters) – A Norwegian prison has defended carrying out hundreds of strip searches and twice-hourly night-time checks on mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, saying it had to ensure he did not have weapons to take hostages or commit suicide.
Ukraine vows swift end to political crisis, wins EU offer of visa-free travel
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Ukraine’s president tried to reassure the European Union on Thursday that his country would soon overcome a political crisis that has rattled Western lenders and he won support for Kiev’s cherished goal of visa-free travel in Europ…
China says opposes unilateral sanctions on North Korea
BEIJING (Reuters) – China expressed its opposition on Thursday to unilateral sanctions against North Korea saying they could raise tension, after the United States imposed new curbs on the isolated country in retaliation for its nuclear and rocket test…
European cities join hands to stay afloat in migrant crisis
BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As hundreds of asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere make the risky journey across the Aegean Sea each day to reach Europe, the Greek island of Lesbos faces the problem of what to do with th…
Azerbaijan frees dissidents in amnesty
BAKU (Reuters) – Azerbaijan pardoned 148 prisoners including journalists, rights activists and political opponents on Thursday, state media said, in an apparent move to deflect Western criticism of the ex-Soviet republic’s human rights record.
French public sector gets pay rise as government courts angry unions, students
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Socialist government sought to dispel anger at its pro-business labor reforms with a modest pay rise for public sector workers on Thursday as riot police clashed with students demonstrating against the changes for a second da…
Ukraine tears down giant Lenin statue, live on YouTube
KIEV (Reuters) – Exhaustive efforts to tear down Ukraine’s largest remaining monument to Vladimir Lenin bore fruit on Thursday when workers prised the late Soviet leader’s statue from its plinth in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhya.
Sudan threatens to close border with South Sudan again
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan threatened on Thursday to close its recently reopened border with South Sudan, accusing its neighbor of supporting rebel groups.
Small militant faction joins Afghan peace process, Taliban still refuse
KABUL (Reuters) – A small but significant militant faction on Thursday joined Afghanistan’s fledgling peace process, a rare positive for an initiative that has been fraught with false starts and publicly rejected by the main Taliban insurgency.
