Uganda seizes explosives, suicide vests from suspected al Shabaab cell
KAMPALA (Reuters) – Police in the Ugandan capital Kampala seized “substantial amounts of explosives” and suicide vests in raids on a suspected al Shabaab cell that was planning an imminent attack, a Ugandan official said in an interview on Sunday.
Mali landmine kills U.N. peacekeeper, wounds four others
BAMAKO (Reuters) – A landmine explosion hit a vehicle carrying U.N. peacekeepers from Chad on patrol in northeastern Mali on Sunday, killing one and seriously wounding four others, the U.N. mission in Mali said.
White House seeks to win over skeptics on Islamic State fight
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top White House aide on Sunday defended President Barack Obama’s plan to fight Islamic State militants, as the administration sought to persuade the U.S. Congress to back an escalation of the effort.
Crimean critics call foul as region votes in first Russian election
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Six months after Russia annexed Crimea, residents of the Black Sea peninsula cast their first votes in a Russian election – an election many of them are calling unfair and undemocratic.
At a landmark Berlin rally, Merkel vows to fight anti-Semitism
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany will do all it can to fight anti-Semitism, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech on Sunday, following a surge of abuse against Jews and spreading anti-Israeli sentiment aroused by the Gaza conflict.
U.S. sees Middle East help fighting IS, Britain cautious after beheading
WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – Washington said countries in the Middle East had offered to join air strikes against Islamic State militants and Australia said it would send troops, but Britain held back even after the group beheaded a British hostage an…
UK’s Cameron resists calls for air strikes despite hostage killing
LONDON/EDINBURGH (Reuters) – Britain resisted pressure on Sunday to join the United States in announcing air strikes against Islamic State after the militant group beheaded David Haines, a British hostage, and threatened to kill another Briton.
Al Qaeda denies decline, acknowledges ‘mistakes’ by its branches
(Reuters) – Al Qaeda dismissed as “lies” a U.S. assessment that it is in decline, but a defiant online message issued by the network on Sunday made no mention of the ultra-hardline Islamic State group widely seen as its rival for the leadership of glob…
Post-war counseling awaits Gaza children going back to school
GAZA (Reuters) – Some 500,000 children returned on Sunday to school in the Gaza Strip, where many will be given psychological counseling before regular studies begin after a devastating 50-day war between Palestinian militants and Israel.
Kerry says some nations offer ground troops to fight Islamic State
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he was “extremely encouraged” by pledges of military assistance against Islamic State militants by countries inside and outside the Middle East and that some nations had offered ground troo…
