Bahrain sentences activist to year in prison for ripping king’s photo
DUBAI (Reuters) – A Bahraini court sentenced a political activist to one year in prison for ripping up a photo of the king in court in 2014, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
Russia considers providing $5 billion loan to Iran: ministry
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia considers providing a $5 billion loan to Iran for joint infrastructure projects, Moscow’s energy ministry representative told Reuters on Wednesday.
Four-fifths of Russia’s Syria strikes don’t target Islamic State: Reuters analysis
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Almost 80 percent of Russia’s declared targets in Syria have been in areas not held by Islamic State, a Reuters analysis of Russian Defence Ministry data shows, undermining Moscow’s assertions that its aim is to defeat the group.
Suspected Boko Haram suicide attack kills two Niger soldiers
NIAMEY (Reuters) – Two Niger soldiers were killed on Wednesday in a suicide attack by a group of suspected Boko Haram militants in the southeastern region of Diffa, Niger’s defense minister said.
Pygmy and Bantu leaders sign peace deal in southeast Congo
KINSHASA (Reuters) – Leaders of two ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed an agreement intended to end a conflict which has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands, a local activist said on Wednesday.
Brazil opposition files new bid to impeach President Rousseff
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Opposition lawyers filed a new petition to Congress for the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday, seeking to unseat the unpopular leftist leader for allegedly continuing to doctor government accounts into…
Chinese diplomatic staff killed in bizarre Philippine birthday shooting
MANILA (Reuters) – The husband of a woman working at a Chinese consulate in the Philippines shot dead the deputy consul general and a senior staff member at a birthday lunch on Wednesday and wounded the consul general, police said.
Egypt replaces central bank governor Hisham Ramez
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt has named senior banker Tarek Amer to head the central bank from November, in a move welcomed by traders who expect a new approach that could help ease the country’s currency crisis.
Syrian town joins Kurdish-led order, denies declaring new province
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A Syrian town captured from Islamic State by Kurdish-led forces in June joined the Kurdish-led political order in northern Syria on Wednesday, officials said, denying an earlier comment by an official who said it had declared itself …
Romania’s ex-president Iliescu faces prosecutors over killings at 1990 rally
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s former President Ion Iliescu faced Supreme Court prosecutors at a criminal investigation on Wednesday into the storming of peaceful demonstrations in Bucharest in 1990 by tens of thousands of miners.
