Government troops attacked at base in northern Mali
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Three attackers were killed in a firefight and two others captured after an assault on a Malian army base in Boulkessi on Wednesday, Malian officials said.
Pope Francis to visit Colombia, urges support for peace process
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Pope Francis will visit Colombia, the Vatican said on Thursday, as the pontiff urged Colombians to work for peace as the country conducts talks with Marxist rebels to end 50 years of war.
Bahrain arrests activist Rajab over tweets: ministry
DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain police arrested prominent democracy activist Nabeel Rajab on Thursday for comments he made on his Twitter account seen as “harmful” to civil peace, the kingdom’s interior ministry said.
Venezuelan ‘resistance’ movement struggles to bruise Maduro
VALENCIA/MERIDA, Venezuela (Reuters) – Housewives stash bottles and fuel for Molotov cocktails. Activists run a network of safe houses. Masked youths block roads. A rifle-wielding dissident general makes a call to arms.
Cash pledged for Syria at Kuwait summit ‘disappointing’: aid groups
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Aid groups tackling the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria said they were disappointed that only $3.8 billion of a requested $8.4 billion had been pledged at a U.N. summit in Kuwait.
Sonia Gandhi slur prompts call for penalties against India’s sexist politicians
NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Indian politicians who make bigoted comments should be punished by their parties, activists said on Thursday, after a government minister became the latest parliamentarian to be accused of racism and sexism.
Nigeria’s oil delta quiet as militants weigh options after Jonathan defeat
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) – The militant leaders who once wrought havoc in the Niger Delta oil industry have suddenly gone quiet following the defeat of Nigeria’s incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, in an election this week.
Ukraine and rebels discuss broadening weapons withdrawal: aide
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine, Russia and Moscow-backed separatists are discussing possibly extending a pull-back of weapons in east Ukraine to include tanks and smaller weapons systems, a Kiev official said on Thursday.
U.N. body tells Russia to act against human rights abuses
GENEVA (Reuters) – United Nations rights experts on Thursday called on Russia to repeal laws limiting free speech and targeting homosexuals and to act firmly to prevent torture by police, racist crimes and a wide range of other human rights abuses.
As regional war rages, Syria’s Assad faces setbacks
BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – In the course of a week, several setbacks for President Bashar al-Assad have provided fresh reminders of the strains facing the Syrian army and its allies in the four-year-long struggle for Syria.
