Sri Lanka bans alleged Gandhi killer from traveling abroad
COLOMBO (Reuters) – A Sri Lankan court on Thursday barred former Tamil Tiger rebel leader Kumaran Pathmanathan, wanted by India in connection with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, from traveling abroad, a lawyer said.
Gaza militants condemn Egypt’s branding of Hamas as terror group
GAZA (Reuters) – In a statement read by a masked gunman, 10 armed Palestinian factions jointly condemned on Thursday an Egyptian decision to list the military wing of the Islamist group Hamas as a terrorist organization.
U.N. plan for local ceasefires in Syria ‘frozen’: diplomats
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A United Nations plan for local ceasefires in Syria is deadlocked, with Damascus feeling it does not need to make concessions to disparate armed groups, Western diplomats familiar with the talks said.
British minister: I wouldn’t shed a tear if Britain left Europe
LONDON (Reuters) – A British government minister tipped as a potential successor to Prime Minister David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party said on Thursday he wouldn’t shed a tear if Britain left the European Union.
Obama: Islamic State conducting ‘barbarism’ in name of religion
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday Islamic State was a “brutal, vicious death cult” that was carrying out “unspeakable acts of barbarism” in the name of religion.
Baghdad’s decade-old curfew to end on Saturday, Iraq’s PM says
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Baghdad’s decade-old curfew will end on Saturday and four neighborhoods will be “demilitarized”, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Thursday, as he tries to normalize the capital.
Libya stops flights to Europe after foreign partner pulls out
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s only commercial flight link to mainland Europe was severed on Thursday when the state carrier said its foreign partner had pulled out of the country after a deadly attack last week on a Tripoli hotel.
Turkey detains five suspected Islamic State members this week: army
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish authorities have detained a man alleged to be a member of Islamic State in the southeastern city of Gaziantep, the army said on Thursday, bringing the number of suspected militants seized this week to five.
Burkina to review presidential guard’s role amid row with premier
OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) – Burkina Faso has said it will review the presidential guard’s role in a bid to defuse a row between Prime Minister Isaac Zida and the elite corps frustrated by his efforts to cut its pay and curtail its influence.
Three South Sudanese freed after U.N. aircraft lands in rebel area
NAIROBI (Reuters) – A South Sudanese civil servant and two humanitarian workers have been freed by rebels who detained them when their U.N. World Food Program helicopter landed by mistake in a rebel-held region, a WFP spokeswoman said on Thursday.
