The double life of a Russian ‘spy’ beheaded by Islamic State
MAYKOP/GVARDEYSKOYE, Russia (Reuters) – In the video, a man in an orange jump suit kneels beside a lake in Syria and confesses in Russian to spying on Islamic State militants. Another Russian speaker, this one in camouflage fatigues, then uses a hunting knife to hack off the kneeling man’s head.
Italy’s Renzi says his political future hinges on 2016 referendum
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Tuesday he would consider his political career “to have failed” if he loses a referendum on constitutional reform next year.
Spanish man imprisoned in loft by elderly siblings freed by police
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish police freed a man imprisoned in a pigeon loft by his 76-year-old brother and 61-year-old sister and arrested them for locking him away while living off his monthly 1,000-euro ($1,097) pension, authorities said.
Former Israeli PM Olmert’s jail term cut, cleared of main charge
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s top court slashed former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s prison sentence to 18 months from six years on Tuesday after overturning the main count in his 2014 bribery conviction.
German town bans New Year fireworks at refugee hostels
BERLIN (Reuters) – Refugees in a western German town have been banned from setting off fireworks to mark the New Year, partly out of concern that loud blasts could traumatize people who have fled war zones.
As record numbers flee their homes in 2015, the hopes of people forced out
NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The year 2015 saw a record number of people fleeing their homes, with more than 60 million people uprooted by wars, conflict and persecution in countries ranging from Syria to South Sudan and Afghanistan, accordi…
As hydropower dries up, Tanzania moves toward fossil fuels
DAR ES SALAAM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As drought continues to cripple its hydropower plants, Tanzania is struggling to produce enough electricity – and is moving toward using more fossil fuels to make up the shortfall.
New book says Communist China’s first premier was probably gay
BEIJING (Reuters) – A book to be published in Hong Kong in the new year says Zhou Enlai, Communist China’s much-respected first premier, was probably gay despite his long marriage, and had once been in love with a male schoolmate two years his junior.
Erdogan: ‘clear provocation’ from pro-Kurdish HDP leader
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday comments at the weekend from the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were a “clear provocation” and the party “will be taught a lesson” by the people and the la…
Special Report: Pentagon thwarts Obama’s effort to close Guantanamo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In September, U.S. State Department officials invited a foreign delegation to the Guantanamo Bay detention center to persuade the group to take detainee Tariq Ba Odah to their country. If they succeeded, the transfer would mark a small step toward realizing President Barack Obama’s goal of closing the prison before he leaves office.
