Human rights group says Cuba has 60 political prisoners
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba’s leading human rights commission on Friday accused the government of having 60 political prisoners, a number the group acknowledges includes armed insurrectionists, hijackers and spies as well as peaceful political activists.
Druze in Israeli-held Golan fear for Syrian brethren
MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights (Reuters) – Gathered at a hilltop in the Israeli-held Golan Heights, a group of Druze sheikhs look through binoculars at the Syrian village of Hader, surrounded by rebels. They fear their brethren are in imminent danger.
Chad to round up beggars, foreigners after Boko Haram attack
N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – Chad said on Friday it planned to round up beggars and some foreigners as part of a security clamp-down, days after two suicide attacks on its capital blamed on Boko Haram Islamist militants from neighboring Nigeria.
Powerful Brazilian CEO arrested in Petrobras graft probe
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian police on Friday arrested Marcelo Odebrecht, the head of Latin America’s largest engineering and construction company Odebrecht SA, and accused his family-run conglomerate of spearheading a $2.1 billion bribery scheme at…
Seventy killed, hundreds injured in Burundi unrest: rights group
BUJUMBURA (Reuters) – At least 70 people have died in Burundi since clashes erupted between security forces and activists protesting against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term, a leading Burundian human rights group said.
U.S., allies conduct 24 air strikes against Islamic State: military
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. and coalition forces conducted 13 air strikes targeting Islamic State in Iraq on Thursday and 11 strikes against the militant group in Syria, the U.S. military said on Friday.
Kenya says German citizen among gunmen who attacked military base
NAIROBI (Reuters) – A German citizen was among gunmen from the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab who attacked a military base on Kenya’s northern coast on Sunday, the Kenyan interior ministry said on Friday.
MERS spreads to Thailand
BANGKOK (Reuters) – One of Thailand’s leading hospitals, known for treating medical tourists, said on Friday it had received the country’s first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), as authorities
France’s Fabius heads to Mideast to sell peace initiative
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s foreign minister heads to the Middle East this weekend with an initiative aimed at bringing Israel and the Palestinians back to peace talks under an international framework amid growing regional instability.
France, central European states oppose quotas in EU migrant debate
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande said on Friday he thought commitments by individual EU member states offered a better way of resettling African and Middle Eastern migrants rather than the imposition of national quotas by Bruss…
