Kerry to meet Russia’s Putin, Lavrov for Syria talks in Moscow
PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Syria and Ukraine, U.S. officials said on Friday.
U.N. reports hundreds of rapes and murders in Central African Republic
BANGUI (Reuters) – Nearly 800 cases of rape, torture and murder were committed over eight months in Central African Republic, mostly by armed groups, a report by the U.N. mission MINUSCA said on Friday.
Days before peace talks, Yemen’s PM says determined to stop the war
RIYADH (Reuters) – Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah said on Friday he was determined to end an eight-month civil war that has killed 6,000 people and caused widespread damage to the economy and infrastructure.
What would happen in a region ruled by France’s far-right?
PARIS (Reuters) – The far-right’s rising star Marion Marechal-Le Pen might well walk up the steps of the world-famous Cannes Film Festival in southeast France next spring as leader of the region, if she wins elections there on Sunday.
World powers step up pressure on Saudis over Yemen conflict
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Frustrated at a worsening humanitarian crisis and rising civilian death toll in Yemen, Western nations are quietly increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia to seek a political deal to end the nearly nine-month conflict, U.N. diplo…
Syria’s Assad says won’t talk to ‘terrorists’ as U.S. wants
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the United States and Saudi Arabia wanted “terrorist groups” to join peace talks proposed by world powers, and that nobody in Syria would accept such talks, in an interview transcript published b…
Spanish police arrest alleged Islamist militant wanted by U.S.
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish police have arrested an alleged Islamist militant wanted by the FBI for conspiracy in a foiled plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist whose depiction of the Prophet Mohammad caused outrage in the Muslim world, an official said.
Mauritius says investigating Islamic State video
PORT LOUIS (Reuters) – Mauritius is investigating an Islamic State video which purports to show a Mauritian man urging people from the tiny Indian Ocean island to travel to the Middle East and join the Islamist group, a senior official said on Friday.
Former Kazakh PM jailed for 10 years for embezzlement
ASTANA (Reuters) – Serik Akhmetov, a former prime minister of Kazakhstan, was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison for embezzlement in a case which appeared to reflect infighting among members of the ruling elite.
Hand grenade blast at mosque in Addis Ababa injures at least six
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A hand grenade was hurled at a mosque in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Friday and the blast injured at least six people, witnesses said.
