U.N. calls on China to end rife torture, crackdown on lawyers
GENEVA(Reuters) – A United Nations rights watchdog called on China on Wednesday to halt torture of detainees that it said remains rife in police stations and prisons, and to close its secret “black jails”.
Unknown attackers blow up Catholic church in Yemen’s Aden: residents
ADEN (Reuters) – Unknown attackers blew up an abandoned Catholic Church in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Wednesday, residents said, days after Islamic State militants assassinated the city’s governor.
Anti-IS coalition focusing on sealing Turkish border: U.S. envoy
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The United States’ new envoy to the coalition it leads against Islamic State said on Wednesday its priority was to seal the last strip of border between Turkey and territory held by the ultra-hardline group in Syria.
Scores of dead, wounded in Taliban attack on Kandahar airport
KABUL (Reuters) – At least 37 civilians and members of Afghan security forces have been killed and 35 wounded in Kandahar after an overnight attack by Taliban militants on the city airport, with final mopping up still going on, officials said on Wednes…
Men, arms, still pour into east Ukraine from Russia: U.N.
GENEVA (Reuters) – Arms and fighters are still pouring into rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine from Russia, a United Nations report said on Wednesday, as it put the death toll from 20 months of fighting at more than 9,100.
Britain signs deal to extend military training in Kenya
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya and Britain signed a deal on Wednesday to allow British troops to continue military training in the East African nation for five more years, ending half a decade of protracted negotiations which tested their relations.
Earthquake of 7.1 magnitude off Indonesia’s Ambon island: USGS
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – An earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck 174 km (108 miles) southeast of Indonesia’s eastern island of Ambon on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Egypt to build one million homes for poor to help ease shortage: minister
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt plans to build 1 million homes for poorer people at a cost of almost $20 billion over the next five years, the housing minister said, to ease a crunch that has seen slums and unlicensed buildings spread since the 2011 revolt.
In IS stronghold, residents trapped in ‘sealed casket’ as Iraqi forces close in
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – As Iraqi forces close in on the western city of Ramadi, thousands of civilians are effectively being held hostage inside by Islamic State militants who want to use them as human shields.
Russian PM: we’ll stick to defense spending plans
(Reuters) – Russia will implement its spending plans for defense despite tough financial conditions, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview broadcast on state television on Wednesday.
