Thai junta gives security forces majority in interim legislature
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s junta on Thursday named a majority of active and retired members of the security forces to an interim legislature of 200 people, as it seeks to keep tight control over the body it will task with enacting sweeping reforms….
China says Islamist militants kill pro-Beijing imam in Xinjiang
BEIJING (Reuters) – Three suspected Islamist militants armed with knives and axes killed the imam of China’s biggest mosque in the western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday, the authorities said, days after a knife-wielding gang attacked state buildings …
Kenya charges nine foreigners over 377-kg heroin haul
MOMBASA Kenya (Reuters) – Nine foreign nationals were charged in a Kenyan court on Thursday with trafficking the biggest ever single seizure of drugs at the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa.
Iraqi Shi’ite militias use hit lists to pick off foes: police
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Shi’ite militias have drawn up hit lists of suspected Sunni insurgents to be kidnapped, executed and hung in public, security and police officials said, raising the stakes in a sectarian war tearing the country apart.
Corruption trial for son of Senegal’s ex-President opens
DAKAR (Reuters) – Karim Wade, son of Senegal’s former president Abdoulaye Wade, appeared in court on Thursday to face corruption charges in a high-stakes case that has raised tensions in one of Africa’s most stable democracies.
Russia bans Ukraine’s soy, mulls ban on Greek fruit, U.S. poultry
MOSCOW/ATHENS (Reuters) – Russia has banned soy imports from Ukraine and may impose restrictions on Greek fruits and U.S. poultry next week, Russian news agencies reported on Thursday, in what could be responses to new Western sanctions.
Turks abroad begin voting in landmark presidential election
BERLIN (Reuters) – Turks in Germany streamed into Berlin’s Olympic stadium on Thursday, seizing the chance to vote from abroad for the first time in an election Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan hopes will make him Turkey’s first directly-elected president…
Quakes strike Myanmar, India’s Andaman Islands; no tsunami warning
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Earthquakes of magnitude 6.2 and 6.1 struck Myanmar and India’s Andaman islands on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Rescuers slog through waist-deep mud to dig out submerged village houses after landslide
MALIN VILLAGE India (Reuters) – Rescuers in India waded waist-deep through swirling sludge to dig their way into dozens of submerged homes on Thursday and find more than 100 people swallowed up by a landslide that flattened almost an entire village.
Greek court ruling on migrant shootings causes outrage
ATHENS (Reuters) – A Greek court acquitted two men accused over the shooting of migrant farm workers who were demanding unpaid wages and gave two foremen suspended sentences in a ruling that prompted outrage from unions and rights groups on Thursday.
