Death toll mounts in intense clashes in east Ukraine
KIEV (Reuters) – Five Ukrainian soldiers and three civilians have been killed as a result of fighting in Ukraine’s separatist eastern regions in the past 24 hours, Kiev authorities said on Thursday, reporting no let-up in violent clashes with pro-Russi…
Jordan still holding prisoner demanded by Islamic State as deadline passes
AMMAN/TOKYO (Reuters) – Jordan said on Thursday it was still holding an Iraqi would-be suicide bomber as a deadline passed for her release set by Islamic State militants who threatened to kill a Jordanian pilot unless she was handed over by sunset.
Italy’s Renzi proposes judge as president, irking Berlusconi
ROME (Reuters) – Prime Minister Matteo Renzi proposed a senior judge to be Italy’s next president on Thursday in a move which may strain his government’s alliance on reforms with opposition rival Silvio Berlusconi.
Moscow-hosted Syria talks end, sides agree only to meet again
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Representatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and opposition figures agreed at talks on Thursday to hold another round in Moscow, moderator Vitaly Naumkin said on Thursday, but no date was set.
U.N. says plans future Libya talks within country
GENEVA/TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s warring factions who operate rival governments have agreed “in principle” to move future negotiations on ending the crisis from Geneva back to the war-ravaged country, the United Nations said on Thursday.
Al Qaeda in Syria attacks Western-backed rebels
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Syrian arm of al Qaeda attacked a Western-backed rebel group near Aleppo on Thursday, the rebel group and an organization monitoring the civil war said, threatening one of the few remaining pockets of the non-jihadist opposition….
Azerbaijan sentences opposition journalist to 5 years in jail
BAKU (Reuters) – A journalist in Azerbaijan was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison in a case critics say highlights a government-led crackdown on dissent in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.
Swedish spy who sold Cold War secrets to Soviets dies at 77
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Stig Bergling, one of Sweden’s most notorious Cold War spies who sold details of its defenses to the Soviet Union in the 1970s, has died at the age of 77, Swedish media reported on Thursday.
Dozens killed in Afghanistan in attacks on funeral, checkpoint
KABUL (Reuters) – A suicide bomb attack on a funeral in east Afghanistan killed 16 people and injured another 39 on Thursday, a local official said, an unusually high death toll for a single bombing in a country ravaged by decades of war.
Russia warns West support for Kiev could lead to ‘catastrophe’
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s envoy to the European security watchdog OSCE urged the United States and Europe on Thursday to stop supporting the “party of war” in Ukraine and warned “catastrophe” could result, Interfax news agency reported.
