New NASA spaceship nails debut test flight
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A U.S. spaceship designed to one day fly astronauts to Mars made a near-bullseye splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, wrapping up a flawless, unmanned debut test flight around Earth.
Belgium’s former Queen Fabiola, widow of King Baudouin, dies
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgium’s Queen Fabiola, widow of King Baudouin and queen between 1960 and 1993, died on Friday at the age of 86, the royal palace said.
Up to 50,000 displaced Iraqi families left without aid despite access: MSF
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Up to 50,000 displaced Iraqi families in the Kirkuk area are being neglected by international aid groups despite sheltering in areas accessible to humanitarian organizations, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontiers…
Maldives declares state of crisis as it faces water shortage
COLOMBO (Reuters) – The Maldives, famous for its pristine beaches and scuba diving, has declared a state of crisis after a fire at the capital’s sole water sewage treatment plant has led to a shortage of drinking water in the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Suicide bombers kill up to seven in Somali town
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Suicide bombers attacked a restaurant in the town of Baidoa northwest of the Somali capital on Friday, killing up to seven people and wounding dozens of others, a police officer and a doctor said.
Germany pledges support to Afghanistan after combat troops leave
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged on Friday to support Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his new unity government after NATO combat troops withdraw from the country at the end of more than a decade of fighting Islamist insur…
U.N. Security Council members push to put North Korea rights on agenda
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Two-thirds of the U.N. Security Council’s members pushed on Friday for the human rights situation in North Korea to be added to the council’s agenda and for a formal meeting to be held this month, a move that cannot be blocke…
France to pay $60 million for Holocaust victims deported by state rail firm
PARIS (Reuters) – France said on Friday it had agreed to put $60 million into a fund managed by the United States to compensate Holocaust victims deported by French state rail firm SNCF to Nazi death camps, a deal that protects it from future U.S. liti…
Dozens of Chinese held in Kenyan cyber crime investigation
NAIROBI (Reuters) – More than 70 Chinese nationals have been detained by Kenyan police investigating allegations of cyber crime, operating private radio services and being in the country illegally, their lawyers said on Friday.
Angry families of MH17 crash victims seek U.N. investigation
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Relatives of MH17 crash victims, angered by what they see as Dutch mishandling of inquiries into the disaster, want a special U.N. envoy to launch an international investigation.
