Japan urges Jordan’s help in IS hostage crisis after video
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan pressed Jordan for help in securing the release of Kenji Goto, a Japanese hostage of Islamic State militants, after a video on Tuesday appeared to show him saying he could be killed in 24 hours.
Brazil’s Rousseff urges cabinet to back belt-tightening
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff urged her cabinet on Tuesday to embrace fiscal belt-tightening and other measures aimed at restoring business confidence and growth in her second term.
Ukraine rebels say government forces pushed back near Donetsk
KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Pro-Russian separatist forces said on Tuesday they had pushed Ukrainian government troops out of two districts on the outskirts of their main stronghold Donetsk, and their aim was to expand their control to the entire region.
At least three killed after U.N. troops in Mali fire at protest
BAMAKO (Reuters) – United Nations peacekeepers in the northern Malian town of Gao killed at least three people on Tuesday when they used live rounds to disperse protesters there, witnesses said.
Egypt confirms jail terms for leading liberal activists
CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian court upheld three-year jail sentences on Tuesday for three prominent liberal activists, judicial sources said, after days of violence around the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Greek PM Tsipras names anti-austerity cabinet, port sale halted
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras named a cabinet of anti-austerity veterans and halted privatization of Greece’s biggest port on Tuesday, signaling he aims to stick to election pledges despite warning shots from the euro zone and …
Yemen’s Houthi leader says wants peaceful transfer of power
SANAA (Reuters) – The leader of Yemen’s Houthis who control the capital Sanaa said on Tuesday his group was seeking a peaceful transfer of power after the resignation of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and urged all factions to work together to solve…
Sharia police arrest 12 men accused of planning to wed in Nigeria’s Kano
KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) – Sharia police arrested 12 men accusing them of attempting gay marriage in Nigeria’s second city of Kano, though 10 were later released, a spokesman for the board overseeing Islamic rules in the area said on Tuesday.
Iran says Israel crossed ‘red lines’, vows to respond: IRNA
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has told the United States that an Israeli air strike which killed an Iranian general in Syria last week had crossed “red lines” and the Islamic Republic will respond, a senior official was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency on…
Tears, chants as rebel child soldiers are freed in South Sudan
GUMURUK, South Sudan (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The teenage rebel soldiers watched as their comrades handed over their assault rifles and stripped off their oversized khaki uniforms with the red, black and green South Sudan flag emblazoned on the r…
