Romania’s PM quits as party leader pending criminal investigation
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s Prime Minister Victor Ponta said he would stand down as leader of the ruling PSD party on Sunday until prosecutors have completed a criminal investigation against him.
Far right group challenges Ukraine government after shootout
KIEV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian far right group demanded the resignation of the interior minister and said it would block roads around Kiev on Sunday in a standoff over a fatal gun battle that challenges the authority of the government.
U.S., allies target Islamic State with 27 air strikes in Syria, Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S.-led forces conducted 16 air strikes in Syria and 11 more in Iraq against Islamic State forces on Saturday, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the air operations said on Sunday.
Bahrain arrests opposition leader freed three weeks ago: agency
DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain has arrested a prominent Sunni Muslim opposition leader three weeks after he was freed from jail for plotting to overthrow the monarchy, the interior ministry said on Sunday.
Suicide bomber kills five in Baghdad shrine neighborhood
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide car bomber killed five people on Sunday in Baghdad’s northern neighborhood of Kadhimiya, home to one of Shi’ite Islam’s holiest shrines, police and medical sources said.
Iraq gets first funding to rebuild war-struck regions
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq and the World Bank signed a $350 million loan agreement on Sunday to fund emergency reconstruction in towns recaptured from Islamic State militants, a deal Baghdad said marked the first international help to rebuild areas devas…
Splintered Catalan independence parties must unite to win vote: poll
MADRID (Reuters) – Catalan parties favoring a split from Spain can only win a majority in regional elections in September if they run as an alliance, a poll showed on Sunday, as the campaign for independence shows signs of flagging.
Boko Haram attacks prison in Niger, four killed: military
NIAMEY (Reuters) – Suspected Boko Haram militants launched an attack on the prison in the southern Niger town of Diffa late on Saturday, military sources said, in an apparent bid to free fellow members of the Nigerian Islamist group held there.
Cocaine smugglers turn to South Asia for new routes, markets
DHAKA/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Police who seized Asia’s largest known shipment of liquid cocaine at a Bangladeshi port late last month say it was headed for India, the latest sign that drug cartels are increasingly plying their trade in South Asia.
Nobel winner Malala opens school for Syrian refugees
BEKAA VALLEY, Lebanon (Reuters) – Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, celebrated her 18th birthday in Lebanon on Sunday by opening a school for Syrian refugee girls and called on world leaders to invest in “books not bullets…
