U.S. Treasury presses Qatar on terror finance
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew met with the emir of Qatar and emphasized the importance of fighting “terror financing,” amid suspicions that money from one of the key U.S. Middle East allies had gone to violent extremists in th…
Syrian Kurds cut IS supply line near Iraq; fears for Christians mount
BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – Kurdish militia pressed an offensive against Islamic State in northeast Syria on Wednesday, cutting one of its supply lines from Iraq, as fears mounted for dozens of Christians abducted by the hardline group.
Reunions and ransoms: a day online in Myanmar’s Rohingya camps
THAE CHAUNG, Myanmar (Reuters) – In this teeming camp for displaced Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar, it’s easy to overlook the internet huts. The raw emotion they generate is much harder to ignore.
Argentina set to revamp intelligence agency in wake of prosecutor’s death
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The revamp of Argentina’s intelligence service faced its final legislative hurdle on Wednesday, with Congress poised to create a new agency after the government said a renegade spy was linked to the death of a star prosecutor.
Protests continue during burial of Venezuela teen shot by police
SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Reuters) – Sporadic protests flared in different parts of Venezuela on Wednesday after a policeman shot dead a teenager during a demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro’s government in the volatile city of San Cristobal…
Spain’s Podemos rallies against Rajoy’s state-of-nation speech
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish anti-austerity party Podemos rallied on Wednesday in response to the prime minister’s state-of-the-nation address, delivered a day earlier to a parliament in which the new leftist movement still has no seats.
Colombia peace talks saved 5,000 people from death, injury: report
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s ongoing peace negotiations with Marxist FARC rebels saved 5,000 people from being killed or injured last year, amid fewer confrontations between the military and guerrillas, according to a report by a local think-tank on W…
More moderate Syrians ready to battle Islamic State than expected: U.S. official
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Moderate Syrian fighters in greater numbers than U.S. officials had expected are stepping forward to battle Islamic State militants, the White House’s special envoy for the campaign against the group said on Wednesday.
Protesters end occupation of some Peru oil wells
LIMA (Reuters) – An indigenous community in Peru’s biggest oil block stopped its monthlong occupation of 14 wells, while protesters in another town in the Amazonian region took control of six different wells, a native leader said Wednesday.
Guatemalan ex-president who took bribe released from U.S. prison
(Reuters) – Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo has been released from a U.S. prison after serving a nearly six-year sentence for taking $2.5 million in bribes from Taiwan and laundering funds through U.S. banks, a prison official confirmed We…
