Italian aid workers held hostage in Syria freed
ROME (Reuters) – Two Italian aid workers taken hostage in Syria five months ago have been released and will soon return home, Italy’s government said on Thursday.
Belgian TV reports three dead in anti-terrorism raid
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgian public television channel RTBF said on its website that it had reports of three people being killed during a police counter-terrorism raid in Verviers in the east of the country.
UN rights chief urges Saudi king to halt flogging of blogger
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Saudi Arabia on Thursday to stop the serial flogging of an atheist and civil rights blogger sentenced to receive 1,000 lashes over an extended period.
Russia’s Putin, Venezuela’s Maduro discuss oil markets: Interfax
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro held a “detailed discussion” on the global oil market situation, Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying after the leaders’ meetin…
UN alarmed by Israeli, Palestinian ‘downward spiral’
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is alarmed that Israelis and Palestinians are engaged in a downward spiral of actions and counter actions and calls on both sides not to exacerbate existing divisions, a senior U.N. official…
French FM to head to Morocco as cooperation on Islamist militants falters
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s foreign minister will soon travel to Morocco to temper a row with its former colony almost a year after it suspended judicial cooperation between the two states leaving gaps in security coordination over Islamic militants.
African states must overcome distrust for Boko Haram force to work: U.N.
DAKAR (Reuters) – The four African nations most threatened by Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram must put aside mutual distrust and agree on a command structure and strategy for a fledgling regional force if they want to defeat the militants, a top U.N…
Ugandan case will stretch war crimes court’s resources
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court will need extra funding to revive a long-dormant case against a Lord’s Resistance Army commander who was arrested in Africa last week, sources said on Thursday.
Algerian army believes found executed Frenchman’s body: source
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algerian special forces believe they have found the body of Herve Gourdel, a French tourist kidnapped and beheaded by Islamist militants last year while hiking in mountains east of Algiers, a security source said on Thursday.
Turkish premier equates Israel’s Netanyahu to Paris attackers
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday compared Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to the Islamist militants who killed 17 people in Paris last week, saying both had committed crimes against humanity.
