French soldier killed in clash with Islamist militants in Mali
PARIS (Reuters) – France said on Wednesday a French soldier was killed during a fierce clash between its forces and Islamist militants in northern Mali earlier in the day.
Gas deal still eludes Ukraine and Russia at EU talks
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Ukraine and Russia bargained late into the night on Wednesday but European Union officials trying to broker a deal to resume gas supplies to Kiev as winter sets in said there was still no accord to announce.
Thai youth fear junta’s school reforms will dim job prospects
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Sixteen years old and studying 13 hours a day, high school pupil Worapot doesn’t have time to waste matching up to a military-led government’s idea of what makes a good Thai.
U.N. peacekeepers free 67 hostages in Central African Republic
BANGUI (Reuters) – U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic freed 67 hostages who had been seized by militia groups, a spokeswoman for the U.N. mission known as MINUSCA said on Wednesday.
At least 3 million in Somalia in need of aid: U.N. Secretary General
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – At least three million people in Somalia need humanitarian aid and the country is threatened with famine, the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.
NATO jets track ‘unusual’ Russian bomber sorties
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO aircraft tracked Russian strategic bombers over the Atlantic and Black Sea on Wednesday and sorties of fighters over the Baltic in what the Western alliance called an unusual burst of activity at a tense time in East-West rela…
Kurdish convoy heads to Syria to take on Islamic State
SURUC Turkey/BEIRUT (Reuters) – A convoy of peshmerga fighters from northern Iraq headed across southeastern Turkey on Wednesday towards the Syrian town of Kobani to try to help fellow Kurds break an Islamic State siege which has defied U.S.-led air st…
Myanmar government and political groups to meet on Friday
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s political and military leaders will hold an unprecedented meeting with heads of major political parties and ethnic groups this week to discuss national reconciliation ahead of elections in 2015, local media reported on Wedn…
EU, U.N. condemn Ukraine rebels’ election plans
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union and United Nations condemned plans to hold elections in rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine on Sunday, with the EU explicitly denouncing Moscow’s support for the separatists’ plans.
South Sudan rebels say they seize oil hub Bentiu; government denies it
ADDIS ABABA/JUBA (Reuters) – Rebels said on Wednesday they had seized the South Sudan oil hub of Bentiu as renewed fighting against government troops entered a third day, but the government said it was still in control of the town.
