China arrests scholar who helped blind dissident flee house arrest
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese authorities have arrested a scholar who helped blind dissident Chen Guangcheng escape house arrest in 2012, the scholar’s wife said on Tuesday, in a case that activists say signals a tighter grip on civil liberties.
Shanghai stampede families await answers, fear being silenced
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Three days after his sister and 35 others were killed in a New Year’s Eve stampede, Wang Jianhua went to Shanghai’s waterfront to take pictures and measurements of the scene, hoping to piece together for himself how the disaster un…
At least 12 Ukrainian servicemen killed in road accident
KIEV (Reuters) – At least 12 Ukrainian serviceman were killed and more than 20 injured when some military trucks collided with their bus in eastern Ukraine, police said on Tuesday.
Turkish Airlines suspends all Libya flights amid security concerns
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Airlines, the last foreign airline operating in Libya, said on Tuesday it was suspending all flights to the north African country over concerns about worsening security.
U.S. stands by plan to pull troops from Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Monday stood by plans to halve the number of its troops in Afghanistan this year and reduce them further in 2016 following Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s suggestion that President Barack Obama review his dea…
Genocide retrial of Guatemala ex-dictator Rios Montt suspended
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Guatemala’s Supreme Court on Monday began a retrial of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt for genocide, but in a fresh twist to a bizarre legal saga suspended it as the defense sought the removal of one of the judges hearing t…
Syria tells U.N. that McCain and former diplomats visited illegally
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Syria has complained to the United Nations that U.S. Senator John McCain, former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and former U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith entered the country without visas in separate visits in violat…
Colombia’s Santos calls on ELN rebels to declare ceasefire
BOGOTA (Reuters) – President Juan Manuel Santos called on Monday for the smaller of Colombia’s two leftist rebel groups, the ELN, to join the larger FARC guerrillas in declaring a unilateral ceasefire as peace talks advance to end a 50 year war.
U.N. wants fewer but better performing troops in Congo
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommends in a report reducing the number of peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of the Congo by nearly 10 percent while making it more effective when it comes to protecting civilians from …
German anti-Muslim protesters rally despite Merkel plea
DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) – Protesters marched in several German cities on Monday against higher levels of immigration and what they see as the growing influence of Islam, in defiance of an appeal from Chancellor Angela Merkel to spurn rallies she vie…
