Taliban fighters mount offensive near Afghan border with Pakistan
ASADABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Taliban fighters killed at least five Afghan soldiers in a three-day offensive in a region near Pakistan, officials said on Tuesday, as fighting heats up on both sides of the border during the withdrawal of most foreig…
Rescuers battle to save 11 workers after Vietnam tunnel collapses
HANOI (Reuters) – Rescue teams in Vietnam struggled on Tuesday to save 11 laborers trapped and running low on oxygen after a tunnel collapsed earlier in the day during construction of a hydropower plant.
Vatican report on U.S. nuns is conciliatory, stresses teachings
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A keenly-awaited Vatican report on Roman Catholic nuns in the United States struck a conciliatory tone on Tuesday, praising them for their social and educational work but urging them to stick to Church teachings.
Romanian PM gives up doctorate after years of plagiarism allegations
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has handed back his doctorate, he said on Tuesday, two years after he was first accused of plagiarizing chunks of his law thesis.
Ukraine’s Poroshenko hails first full overnight truce in rebel east
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s separatist east passed the night into Tuesday without any shooting, President Petro Poroshenko said, hailing the first such stretch of calm as a positive signal for the next steps in a peace plan.
Turkey’s main opposition to challenge new police powers in top court
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s main opposition party said on Tuesday will launch a legal challenge against a government-sponsored law expanding police search powers, saying it violates the rights of individuals.
Police storm Sydney cafe to end hostage siege, three dead
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning and freed terrified hostages held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which two captives and the attacker were killed.
Afghan army halts transport for soldiers after wave of bus bombs
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s army has stopped taking soldiers to and from work in the capital, deeming it too dangerous after a string of bomb attacks on buses carrying soldiers killed more than a dozen of them, an official said on Tuesday.
Ten Bosnian Serb wartime security officials arrested for war crimes
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Ten Bosnian Serb wartime officials were arrested on Tuesday over the killing of close to 70 Muslim Bosniak civilians and persecution of many more, including women and children, early in the former Yugoslav republic’s 1992-95 war.
France tries to rally mistrustful African states against Boko Haram
DAKAR (Reuters) – France will step in to help coordinate a regional taskforce against Nigeria’s Islamist group Boko Haram, amid signs of mistrust among West African neighbors, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday.
