Sudan’s Bashir says will quit in 2020 if re-elected president
PARIS (Reuters) – Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said he will stand aside in 2020 if he is elected for one more term in April elections, in an interview published by France’s Le Monde newspaper on Thursday.
Air strikes hit Islamic State in Syria after Christians abducted
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.S.-led alliance launched air strikes against Islamic State on Thursday in an area of northeast Syria where the militants are now estimated to have abducted at least 220 Assyrian Christians this week, a group monitoring the war re…
Le Pen woos French farm vote as malaise deepens
PARIS (Reuters) – French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was admiring a prize Charolais cow at a Paris farm fair on Thursday when five young farmers appeared before her demanding to take ‘selfie’ photographs with their favorite politician.
As address to U.S. Congress nears, Netanyahu treads a thinning line
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted an invitation to address the U.S. Congress two weeks before an Israeli election, there appeared to be little downside. As the appointment draws near, the potential pitfalls are growi…
Senior Bosnian judge arrested on suspicion of taking bribe
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – A senior Bosnian judge has been arrested on suspicion of taking a bribe, the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday, in the first case of corruption to involve a member of the judiciary in the Balkan country.
Insight: Jordan takes no chances in confronting homegrown Jihadis
AMMAN (Reuters) – At Jordan’s State Security court, Islamic State militants, clad in green military fatigues with long, unkempt beards, stood impassively, awaiting sentence inside a black iron cage.
For Israeli party, a Palestinian state amounts to ‘suicide’
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Young and ambitious, with a ready smile and a quick wit, Israeli far right leader Naftali Bennett is on a mission to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.
Rebuilding Gaza could take a century if Israel keeps blockade
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The rebuilding of homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza could take more than a century to complete unless an Israeli blockade restricting imports of construction materials into the Gaza Strip is lifted, aid agency O…
Syrian rebel gets five years in Sweden for ‘torture-like’ war crime
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A former Syrian opposition fighter was sentenced to five years in prison for war crimes by a Swedish court on Thursday for a “torture-like” assault in Syria that was filmed and posted on social media.
Two people killed by suspected Boko Haram mine blast in Niger
NIAMEY (Reuters) – Two people aboard a horse-driven cart were killed in Niger on Thursday when they ran over a mine thought to have been planted by Islamist Boko Haram insurgents, security sources said.
