Armoured column seen in south Russia near border with Ukraine
KRASNODAROVKA Russia (Reuters) – A Reuters reporter saw on Thursday a column of armoured vehicles and dust-covered troops, one of them with an injured face, driving through the Russian steppe just across the border from a part of Ukraine which Kiev say…
France’s Hollande says Assad no ally in fight against Islamic State
PARIS (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday opposition forces fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq should get more Western support but ruled out seeing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as an ally.
Romania allows local party-swapping, critics see threat to democracy
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s government approved a temporary emergency ordinance on Thursday to let local administrations change political affiliations in a pre-election move it says will unblock policymaking but which critics say threatens democrac…
U.N. says ‘not possible’ to finish Afghan vote audit by September 2
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s U.N. representative told President Hamid Karzai on Thursday that the audit of a disputed election would not be finished by Sept. 2, when Karzai had hoped to see a new leader inaugurated.
U.N. says 43 Golan Heights peacekeepers seized by militants
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A group of 43 U.N. peacekeepers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights have been detained by militants fighting the Syrian army and the world body is working to secure their release, the United Nations said on Thursday.
Iraq and Syria pose Saudi dilemma – failed states or Iran proxies
RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) – With militant Islamists gaining the upper hand in Syria’s rebel movement and grabbing big tracts of Western Iraq, Saudi Arabia’s ruling family faces an increasingly uncomfortable dilemma.
At least 60 killed in central Nigeria communal battle: police
ONITSHA Nigeria (Reuters) – Fighting between Fulani herdsmen and farmers from the Eggon ethnic group has left at least 60 people dead in central Nigeria, mostly from machete cuts, police said on Thursday.
Saudi mufti tells young Saudis not to heed call to jihad
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti urged young people on Thursday to ignore calls to jihad from people representing “deviant principles”, the latest salvo in an anti-militant campaign by the kingdom’s religious establishment.
France says Europe must be more than ‘bank window’ in Israel, Palestinian conflict
PARIS (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday Europe had to play a bigger role to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and could no longer just play the role of a “bank window” for reconstruction after each war.
HK anti-graft agency raids home of media tycoon critical of Beijing
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Anti-corruption officers in Hong Kong on Thursday raided the home of Jimmy Lai, a media magnate and outspoken critic of Beijing who has supported pro-democracy activists through his publications and with donations.
