Ukraine names Georgia’s Saakashvili as governor of Black Sea hotspot
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko has appointed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to be governor of Ukraine’s southern Odessa region, in a surprise move that is certain to raise hackles in Moscow.
African leaders meet in second push for peace in Burundi
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – African leaders began talks in Tanzania on Sunday in their second summit in a month aimed at restoring peace in Burundi, which has been hit by violent protests over the president’s plan to run for a third term.
China, U.S. tone down rhetoric but far from South China Sea solution
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – After a months-long row over Beijing’s island-building in the South China Sea, the United States and China were relatively restrained at Asia’s top security forum this weekend, but no closer to any solution.
International effort rescues over 5,000 Mediterranean migrants
ROME (Reuters) – The corpses of 17 migrants were brought ashore in Sicily aboard an Italian naval vessel on Sunday along with 454 survivors as efforts intensified to rescue people fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
Wary children return to schools after Nepal earthquake
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Thousands of children affected by last month’s earthquake in Nepal returned to schools on Sunday, a working day in the Himalayan nation, five weeks after the disaster killed more than 8,600 people and destroyed many homes.
Rocket hits school in eastern Afghanistan, killing three
KABUL (Reuters) – A teacher and two students were killed when a rocket struck a school compound in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, government officials said, as intensifying combat across the country takes a high toll on civilian life.
Desperate Bangladeshi migrant families await calls for ransom
TEKNAF, Bangladesh (Reuters) – In Bangladesh’s southernmost tip, families cling to scraps of paper with Malaysian and Thai hand phone numbers scribbled on them as their only links to loved ones missing after boarding fishing boats, lured by hopes of a …
Special Report: Egypt deploys scholars to teach moderate Islam, but skepticism abounds
CAIRO (Reuters) – In his battle against militant Islam, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is relying not just on bomber planes and soldiers but on white-turbaned clerics from Al-Azhar, Egypt’s 1,000-year-old center for Islamic learning. He wants …
Hong Kong democrats intent on vetoing vote as talks with China fizzle
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Talks between Chinese officials and Hong Kong democrats ended in stalemate on Sunday, with democrats sticking by plans to veto a vote on political reforms in mid-June that could become a fresh flashpoint after last year’s massive …
Drought-hit North Korea seen able to avoid food crisis
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea has updated farming methods and switched crops that could help soften the blow of drought and avert a disastrous food shortage, an aid worker and an analyst said on Sunday, after a U.N. official warned of another “huge foo…
