Russia says Ukrainian hostage freed in Afghanistan
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Dmytro Bilyi, a Ukrainian who was being held prisoner by Afghan militants, has been freed with Russian help, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
EU parliament chief attacks ‘cynical’ states over refugee crisis
BERLIN (Reuters) – The “glaring failures” of some European countries to take in refugees are turning the Mediterranean into a mass grave and creating gruesome scenes at borders, the head of the European Parliament has said.
Libya arrests three suspected smugglers over migrant boat disaster
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Three people have been arrested in Libya on suspicion of involvement in launching a boat packed with migrants that sank off the country’s Mediterranean coast, killing up to 200 people, a security official said on Saturday.
Dozens of young Swazi women die on road to royal ceremony
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – At least 38 young women have died in a road accident in Swaziland on their way to an annual ceremony where the king might have chosen one of them as his wife, an advocacy group said on Saturday.
French journalists probed on suspicion of blackmailing Moroccan king
PARIS (Reuters) – Two French journalists have been placed under formal investigation after Morocco’s King Mohammed filed a complaint accusing them of attempting blackmail by threatening to publish a book about him, a judicial source said.
Controlled explosions shake Afganistan’s Kabul
KABUL (Reuters) – Two large explosions heard in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Saturday were controlled blasts by deminers, the city’s deputy police chief said.
North Korea agrees to talks with South on family reunions
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea has agreed to Red Cross talks with South Korea to discuss reunions of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War, a South Korean official said on Saturday, setting up the first meeting under a recent accord aimed at …
Anguish of ‘disappearance’ continues across the world, say campaigners
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – For Ariel Dulitzky, the horror of the disappearance of his two cousins in 1970s Argentina remains a painful backdrop to his work to end a practice still used by many governments to silence critics.
Local Syrian ceasefires break down as shelling resumes
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A ceasefire in a Syrian town near the Lebanese border and in two villages to the north has broken down after renewed heavy shelling, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Saturday.
Nigeria says uncovers Boko Haram spy ring at Abuja airport
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria has uncovered a spy cell run by militant Islamist group Boko Haram at the international airport in the capital Abuja apparently aimed at selecting targets for attack, the country’s national security agency said.
