Al Qaeda militants take over two south Yemen towns, residents say
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) – Al Qaeda fighters retook on Wednesday two southern Yemeni towns they briefly occupied four years ago, residents and local fighters said, exploiting the collapse of central authority in Yemen in its eight-month war.
Venezuela says opposition activist killing was gang-related
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan police have determined the Nov. 25 murder of an opposition activist during a campaign rally for the upcoming congressional vote was the result of a gang dispute and not linked to politics, the interior minister said on We…
Eleven die in attack on Ivory Coast village
ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Eleven people, including at least one soldier, were killed on Wednesday during an attack by unidentified gunmen in a village in Ivory Coast near the border with Liberia, state radio said.
Venezuelan president’s popularity bounces before election
(Venezuela law prohibits publishing opinion polls in the week preceding elections)
New U.S. force for Iraq to number around 100: U.S. military
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new force of special operations troops being deployed by the United States to Iraq will likely number around 100, U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren said on Wednesday.
Ukrainian mogul Firtash predicts Kiev government will fall next year
VIENNA (Reuters) – Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Firtash said the Ukrainian government is politically bankrupt and will probably fall early next year, in his most outspoken criticism of the pro-Western leadership in Kiev since it came to power almost tw…
UK’s Cameron pressing to conclude EU talks in December: newspaper
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron is pressing other members of the European Union to conclude talks on Britain’s ties with the 28-member bloc at a summit in two weeks’ time, European Council President Donald Tusk was reported as saying.
Islamic State video purportedly shows killing of Russian spy: monitoring group
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A video released online by Islamic State on Wednesday purportedly showed the beheading of a man the group said was a Russian spy its fighters had captured and who had been in Syria and Iraq since last year, the SITE monitoring group …
France and Germany seek to step up fight against militant financing
BERLIN (Reuters) – France and Germany pushed on Wednesday for Europe to speed up a crackdown on money laundering and said they would propose a package of new EU measures next week to cut off funding to militants.
Taliban leader Mullah Mansour wounded in shootout: sources
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been seriously wounded in Pakistan in a shootout between senior members of the Islamist movement, Taliban sources said on Wednesday, but the group’s main spokesman dismissed their …
