CAR fighters must embrace farming to end cycle of conflict: FAO official
ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A full-scale food crisis has been averted in Central African Republic following a bout of sectarian bloodletting, but unemployed young men will need jobs for peace to hold in the agriculture-dependent country, a U.N….
French magazine attack set to deepen Europe’s ‘culture war’
PARIS (Reuters) – A deadly attack on a French satirical magazine that lampooned Islam seems certain to fuel rising anti-immigration movements around Europe and inflame a “culture war” about the place of religion and ethnic identity in society.
EU offers 1.8 billion euros for Ukraine as Germany seeks reform
RIGA/BERLIN (Reuters) – The European Union proposed on Thursday offering an additional 1.8 billion euros ($2.1 billion) to help save Ukraine from bankruptcy as Kiev assured Germany it had credible plans to modernize.
Haiti political crisis stalls homebuilding for quake survivors
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Five years after an earthquake flattened much of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince and destroyed Guiyolette Fenfen’s home, the 29-year-old is still living in a tent, still dreading the next hurricane season.
Facing shrinking budgets, Pentagon moves to cut European bases
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Facing tight budgets and a shrinking military, the Pentagon said on Thursday it was ending operations at an air base in Britain and handing it and 14 other sites in Europe back to their home governments in a move projected to sav…
Saudi Arabia to flog activist for blasphemy on Friday: Amnesty
RIYADH (Reuters) – A liberal activist sentenced to prison and flogging in Saudi Arabia will face a first round of lashes on Friday, rights watchdog Amnesty International said on Thursday.
Seven dead in Bangladesh’s election anniversary protests
DHAKA (Reuters) – Three people have been killed in Bangladesh, bringing to seven the number of deaths since protests over a disputed election turned violent earlier this week.
Rights groups urge United States to seek U.N. arms embargo on South Sudan
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Washington should call for a United Nations arms embargo on South Sudan’s warring parties, rights groups said in a letter published on Thursday, as analysts warned that fighting would flare up in the approaching dr…
Russia sanctions can only be lifted if Minsk fully implemented: Merkel
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that EU sanctions against Russia tied to its intervention in eastern Ukraine could only be lifted if there was full implementation of the Minsk agreement signed between Kiev and pro-Ru…
Crashed jet’s tail may be raised in hunt for AirAsia ‘black boxes’
JAKARTA/PANGKALAN BUN (Reuters) – Indonesian search and rescue teams plan to start lifting the crashed AirAsia jet’s tail off the sea bed on Friday, officials said, raising hopes that “black box” recorders can be retrieved to reveal the cause of the di…