Egypt’s Sisi tours border with Libya after bombing IS targets
CAIRO (Reuters) – President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned Egypt would strike back at any militant threats to its security as he toured the border area with Libya on Wednesday, two days after Cairo bombed Islamic State targets there.
Burundi frees journalist tied to suspect in murder of Italian nuns
BUJUMBURA (Reuters) – A radio show host in Burundi who was detained last month after he refused to identify a guest who said he been involved in the murder of three Italian nuns, was freed on bail on Wednesday, his lawyer said.
Turkish parliament becomes battleground for Kurdish peace process
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – A warning from Kurdish militants that negotiations with Turkey could be on the verge of collapse has turned parliament into the key battleground in a peace process meant to end a three-decade insurgency.
Moldova’s parliament approves new pro-EU prime minister
CHISINAU (Reuters) – Moldova’s parliament voted on Wednesday to approve as prime minister businessman Chiril Gaburici, who promises to forge closer ties with Europe despite fears of a possible Russian backlash.
Islamic State lays claim to North African outpost
ALGIERS/CAIRO (Reuters) – The images match the worst of Islamic State’s atrocities: black-clad fighters and an English-speaking jihadist taunt the West before slaughtering their victims in orange jumpsuits on a Libyan beach.
Four years on, some in Europe support talking to Assad
BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) – Some European Union countries which withdrew their ambassadors from Syria are saying privately it is time for more communication with Damascus even though Britain and France oppose it, diplomats said.
Battle lines drawn for a civil war in Yemen
SANAA/DUBAI (Reuters) – Hundreds of Sunni tribesmen in the central Yemeni desert parade in pickup trucks toting heavy machine guns and singing martial songs to raise morale.
South Africa Speaker sorry for calling lawmaker ‘cockroach’
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete said on Wednesday she was sorry for calling a firebrand opposition lawmaker a “cockroach” in the aftermath of a chaotic State Of The Nation address by President Jacob Zuma.
A trench in Iraq exacerbates Sunni fears of sectarian partition
HILLA, Iraq (Reuters) – The local official drew a line on a map slicing through farmland and desert southwest of Baghdad whose Sunni Muslim residents have been displaced by fighting, and then pointed just south to the site of the most revered Shi’ite s…
French court stays extradition of Argentine in ‘dirty war’ case
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s highest court struck down on Wednesday a decision to pursue extradition to Argentina for an ex-police officer accused of crimes against humanity four decades ago during that country’s “dirty war,” ruling the case should be re…
