Sri Lanka president, challenger sign up for expected tight January election
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his former health minister, Mithripala Sirisena, submitted nominations on Monday to contest next month’s presidential election, which is expected to be a tight race between the one-time par…
U.S. says unaware of South Africa teacher release talks before Yemen raid
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Washington did not know about advanced negotiations to release South African teacher Pierre Korkie before he was killed in a failed U.S.-led mission to rescue hostages held by al Qaeda in Yemen, the U.S. ambassador to South Afr…
Afghan students find inspiration in Islamic State’s success
KABUL (Reuters) – A quiet student at Kabul University, 25-year-old Abdul Rahim has a dream: to join Islamic State in Syria and fight for the establishment of a global caliphate – a new, alarming form of radicalism in war-weary Afghanistan.
U.N. declares 2014 a devastating year for millions of children
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF declared 2014 a devastating year for children on Monday with as many as 15 million caught in conflicts in Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and the Palesti…
Rivalries resurface in Iraqi town recaptured from Islamic State
JALAWLA, Iraq (Reuters) – The blood of two militants killed during Islamic State’s rout in the Iraqi town of Jalawla has yet to be washed away, but a turf war is already brewing between Kurdish and Shi’ite forces that jointly drove the insurgents out.
Families of the Disappeared suffer as Northern Ireland drags feet on past
GLENAVY, Northern Ireland (Reuters) – As Brendan Megraw’s coffin was lowered into his family grave 36 years after he was kidnapped and shot by the IRA, the mourners at the cemetery felt relief but also anger at Northern Ireland’s reluctance to investig…
China sentences eight to death for knife, bomb attacks in west
BEIJING (Reuters) – China sentenced eight people to death for their roles in two knife and bomb attacks this spring in the country’s violence-plagued western region of Xinjiang, state media reported on Monday.
‘Gold-obsessed’ Chinese officer’s graft case worth $5 billion: magazine
BEIJING (Reuters) – A former senior Chinese military officer was obsessed with gold and often ferried gold bars for bribes in a luxury car, a Hong Kong magazine reported on Monday, in connection with a graft case which investigators estimate is worth s…
Spain abandons sea search for more than 20 migrants
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish rescue teams said they had called off their search for more than 20 migrants who fell off their boat into the Mediterranean on Friday.
Anglican leader says plight of hungry in Britain more shocking than in Africa
LONDON (Reuters) – The Archbishop of Canterbury has said he found seeing the hungry in Britain to be less serious but more shocking than the plight of those starving in some places in Africa.
