Boko Haram targets Arabs in reprisal for Chad offensive
FOTOKOL, Cameroon (Reuters) – Boko Haram is carrying out ethnic reprisals against Arabic speakers in northern Nigeria, accusing them of aiding Chad’s army fighting against the Islamist group, military officers and residents say.
Seven injured in bomb attack in Bogota, Colombia
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Five police and two civilians were injured after a bomb exploded in the south of Colombia’s capital Bogota on Thursday, police said, in the latest of a string of attacks in the city.
Kremlin says Putin healthy, dismisses illness rumors
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is in good health, the Kremlin said on Thursday, dismissing rumors that the leader was suffering from an illness after a foreign trip was canceled.
No plans for UK’s Cameron to attend Russia’s WW2 commemoration: spokeswoman
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron has no plans to attend an official ceremony in Moscow on May 9 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, his official spokeswoman said on Thursday, citing diplomatic concerns.
Nigeria drafts in foreign mercenaries to take on Boko Haram
JOHANNESBURG/DAKAR (Reuters) – Nigeria has brought in hundreds of mercenaries from South Africa and the former Soviet Union to give its offensive against Boko Haram a shot in the arm before a March 28 election, according to regional security, defense a…
Chinese police detain five women’s rights activists
BEIJING (Reuters) – China formally detained five women’s rights activists on Thursday, apparently for planning to demonstrate against sexual harassment on public transport, paving the way for police to levy formal charges.
Myanmar frees some student protesters arrested in violent crackdown
LETPADAN (Reuters) – Myanmar on Thursday freed from jail more than a dozen students detained this week in a violent crackdown in which riot police beat protesters with batons and arrested 127 people after a lengthy standoff.
Houthis open fire on protesters in southern Yemen, one dead
SANAA (Reuters) – Members of the Shi’ite Muslim militia that controls much of Yemen opened fire on hundreds of people protesting at their presence in the southerly city of al-Bayda on Thursday, killing one and wounding eight others, local officials and…
Syrian army repels attack on village in west: monitor, military source
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian government forces and allied militia have repelled an insurgent attack on a village in western Syria of strategic importance to both sides, with dozens of combatants killed, a monitoring group said on Thursday.
Iraqi soldiers killed in ‘friendly fire’ Anbar air strike: sources
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Soldiers from an Iraqi army unit in the western province of Anbar have been killed in an apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, an Iraqi military officer and a police source said on Thursday.
