Human rights or business? Saudi defense accord sparks storm in Sweden
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – The fate of a defense cooperation accord with Saudi Arabia has triggered a dispute between Swedish business, including powerful arms exporters, and the country’s new center-left government which favors a foreign policy focused on …
U.N. inquiry on Gaza war crimes seeks delay of report to June: statement
GENEVA (Reuters) – U.N. investigators looking at possible war crimes committed by all sides during the Gaza war last year have asked to postpone publication of their report from March until June to consider further evidence received, a U.N. statement s…
Yemen Houthis launch ‘martyr’ videos to raise morale
SANAA (Reuters) – Iranian-allied Houthi militants have released videos made by their fighters before they were killed in action which highlight the sectarian nature of the conflict in Yemen.
Colombia aims to rid country of landmines by 2025: campaigners
BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Colombia, one of the most mine-scarred countries in the world, could be free of landmines in a decade after the government and FARC rebels reached a historic agreement on landmine clearance during peace talks in Cu…
Latin America’s poorest need new programs: World Bank
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Rapid growth in Latin America over the past decade still left one in five residents of the region living on less than $4 a day, the World Bank said in a report on Monday.
British lawmaker Stephen O’Brien named new U.N. aid chief
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – British lawmaker and former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Stephen O’Brien, will replace Valerie Amos as the United Nations aid chief, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Mon…
Bangladesh expels North Korean diplomat for gold smuggling
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh expelled a senior North Korean diplomat on Monday after he was caught smuggling $1.4 million worth of gold, government officials said.
Czech government approves sale of fighter jets to Iraq
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech government has approved a sale of 15 subsonic fighter planes to Iraq, the defense minister said on Monday, following the failure of a previous attempt to offload surplus stock to Baghdad.
Myanmar is sliding toward conflict, U.N. investigator says
GENEVA (Reuters) – Myanmar is sliding toward conflict as the government backtracks on pledges to protect human rights and “fear, distrust and hostility” spread, a U.N. investigator said in a report published on Monday.
Slobodan Milosevic Street? Not likely, warns Kosovo government
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo’s government warned ethnic Serbs on Monday not to follow through on a decision to name a street after late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, whose crackdown in the former Serbian province triggered war with NATO in 1999….
