Behind the scary headlines, 2015 gives reason for optimism
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – This year may be remembered for barrel bombs, beheadings and the Bataclan massacre, but according to a Harvard psychologist, a remarkable long term downward trend in violence is continuing.
Suspected Boko Haram fighters launch four strikes on Lake Chad area
N’DJAMENA/NIAMEY (Reuters) – Suspected Boko Haram militants launched four attacks over 24 hours on villages in Niger, Chad and Cameroon, killing at least seven people, security and administrative sources said on Wednesday.
U.N. council backs Libya peace deal, no Western air strikes sought
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday endorsed a U.N.-brokered agreement among Libya’s warring factions to form a national unity government, a deal Western powers hope will bring stability and help to combat a growing Islami…
Venezuela’s outgoing Congress names 13 Supreme Court justices
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s Congress on Wednesday named 13 justices to the Supreme Court in a maneuver critics slammed as a last-minute court-packing scheme by the Socialist Party in the final days before it loses control of the legislature in Janu…
China says in advanced talks with U.S. on five graft suspects
BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese government is in advanced talks with the United States on repatriating five of China’s most wanted corruption suspects and will hand over whatever evidence is needed by its U.S. counterparts, Chinese state media said on …
Cameron’s office to probe why British Muslim family barred from U.S.
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said on Wednesday it was looking into the case of a family of 11 British Muslims who were refused permission to board a flight from London to Los Angeles to visit Disneyland.
Somber Christmas for Iraq’s Christians under threat from Islamic State
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – With Christmas falling this year a day after Prophet Mohammad’s birthday, the city of Baghdad is holding Christmas celebrations in a sign of brotherhood with Iraq’s hard-pressed Christian community.
Italian president offers pardons in CIA rendition convictions
ROME (Reuters) – Italy has partially pardoned the former CIA Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady who was convicted for his role in the kidnapping of an Egyptian Muslim cleric under the U.S. “extraordinary rendition” program.
Croatian president nominates pharmaceutical exec as next PM
ZAGREB (Reuters) – Croatia’s president on Wednesday designated pharmaceutical executive Tihomir Oreskovic to become prime minister, nominating a technocrat put forward by conservatives and reformists after weeks of talks following an inconclusive Nov. …
Two Israelis, two Palestinian attackers killed in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Two Palestinians went on a stabbing spree along a popular walkway in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing one person, and were then shot dead by Israeli security forces in what police described as a terrorist attack.
