Tunisia says suicide bomber carried out bus attack claimed by Islamic State
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisian authorities said on Wednesday a suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with plastic explosive blew up a presidential guard bus a day earlier, killing at least 12 troops in an attack claimed by Islamic State militants.
Conflict, crisis give West Africa chance to rebuild, improve education
DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The world’s worst recorded Ebola outbreak and militant violence in West Africa may have shut down schools across the region but governments should see conflict and crisis as an opportunity to reform and improve educ…
Court rules Norway aid agency ‘grossly negligent’ over Kenya kidnap
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A court in Oslo ruled on Wednesday that the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) was guilty of gross negligence and should pay 4.4 million crowns ($507,000) in damages to a former employee who was abducted by gunmen fro…
Russia’s past and present collide at ceremony to honor former leader
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday inaugurated a museum dedicated to Boris Yeltsin, the former president whose legacy, many former Yeltsin associates say, Putin has spent the past 15 years dismantling.
Sarkozy battles far-right in French regional vote
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) – Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy rallied conservatives in eastern France on Wednesday, hoping to fend off a strong challenge by the far-right National Front (FN) in looming regional elections.
France’s Hollande heads to Russia hoping for Syria breakthrough
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s president heads to Moscow on Thursday to try to win concessions from Russia’s Vladimir Putin to fight Islamic State and press on with a political solution in Syria, but diplomats warn that major differences will make a breakt…
Canada’s murder rate in 2014 falls to 50-year low
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s murder rate in 2014 edged down to a near 50-year low, but aboriginals accounted for a disproportionately high number of victims, official data showed on Wednesday.
Palestinian stabs Israeli soldier and is shot dead: army
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A Palestinian stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli soldier on Wednesday and was shot dead by troops, the army and a hospital official said, a day after a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to explore how to end eight…
Authorities in Niger arrest five journalists
NIAMEY (Reuters) – Authorities in Niger have arrested five journalists in the latest sign of political tension ahead of elections in February in which President Issoufou Mahamadou will seek a second five-year term.
Russia and Turkey refuse to back down in row over jet downing
ISTANBUL/NIZHNY TAGIL, Russia (Reuters) – Russia sent an advanced missile system to Syria on Wednesday to protect its jets operating there and pledged its air force would keep flying missions near Turkish air space, sounding a defiant note after Turkey…
