South Sudan’s parliament approves peace deal
NAIROBI (Reuters) – South Sudan’s parliament unanimously voted on Thursday to adopt a peace deal agreed last month by President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, amid mounting pressure for both sides to lay down their arms.
Russian court hands out tough jail term for Ukrainian flag stunt
MOSCOW, Sep 10 (Reuters) – A Russian court on Thursday convicted a Ukrainian man of helping try to paint his country’s national flag on a Moscow skyscraper as an act of protest against the Kremlin’s foreign policy and sentenced him to two years and thr…
Bangladesh arrests three more Islamists over killings of secular bloggers
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh has arrested three members of an Islamist group, including its leader, for their alleged involvement in the killings of online critics of religious militancy, a spokesman for a Bangladesh security unit said on Thursday.
Population parity in historic Palestine raises hard questions for Israel
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – While Israel remains predominantly Jewish, Arab numbers within the area of historic Palestine are now close to eclipsing the Jewish population, creating a dilemma for supporters of a “one-state solution” to the region’s conflict.
Cuba’s controversial cardinal takes center stage with pope’s visit
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cardinal Jaime Ortega rose from labor camp inmate in the 1960s to become one of Cuba’s leading political figures, leveraging a non-confrontational style into a rare position of influence for someone outside the Communist Party.
U.S. hits Hamas officials, company with sanctions
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned four Hamas officials and financiers and a Saudi Arabia-based company controlled by one of them for providing financial support to the Palestinian militant group.
Islamic State attacks Syrian air base in east, dozens reported killed
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Dozens of Syrian government troops and Islamic State fighters have been killed in fighting around a government-held air base in eastern Syria in a region that is a stronghold for the jihadists, a monitoring group said on Thursday,
Guinea Bissau president dismisses cabinet after court ruling
BISSAU (Reuters) – Guinea Bissau’s President Jose Mario Vaz dismissed his two-day-old cabinet on Wednesday after the Supreme Court ruled that his appointment of a new prime minister was unconstitutional, a presidential decree said.
Western states train Kurdish force in Syria, force’s leader says
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Western states have provided counter-terrorism training in Syria to Kurdish security forces that are battling Islamic State, the head of the force said, in a significant expansion of support to the Kurdish administration in northern …
Saudi-led air raids hit bases, Houthi leaders’ houses in Yemeni capital
SANAA (Reuters) – War planes from a Saudi-led military alliance bombed Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Thursday, in what witnesses described as the fiercest attacks on the city in over five months of war.
