Ukraine leader says expects tough talks with Putin next week
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Saturday he expected planned talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin next week in Italy to be difficult but said Moscow had a crucial role to play in bringing peace to his country.
Finland says Russian navy interfered with Baltic Sea research vessel
HELSINKI (Reuters) – The Russian navy twice interfered with a Finnish state environmental research vessel in international waters in August and September, the Finnish Environment Institute said on Saturday.
Mourners pay last respects to Haiti’s ex-dictator, Duvalier
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Haiti’s former dictator, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, was laid to rest on Saturday, marking the end of a political dynasty notorious for its corruption and abuse of human rights.
Somalia to halt banned charcoal trade at port recaptured from al Shabaab
BARAWE Somalia (Reuters) – Somalia’s president said on Saturday he would halt charcoal exports from Barawe, a port town recaptured from an Islamist group who U.N. investigators said had benefited from the illegal trade.
Pitching tents, Hong Kong democracy protesters dig in for long haul
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hundreds of student activists camped overnight at major protest sites in Hong Kong as the democracy movement sought to re-gather momentum after the government called off talks on defusing unrest in the global financial hub.
Bahrain opposition confirms it will boycott election
MANAMA (Reuters) – Four opposition groups including the largest, Al Wefaq, will boycott a parliamentary election scheduled for November in Bahrain to protest what they described as a vote where the results would be “fully controlled by the ruling autho…
Suicide bomber kills 11 in market north of Baghdad
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt in a market north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing 11 people and wounding 21 others, medical and police officials said.
Tunisia cracks down on jihadists as elections loom: PM
TUNIS (Reuters) – – Tunisia has arrested some 1,500 suspected jihadists this year, Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa told Reuters, part of a security crackdown aimed at safeguarding the North African country’s fragile transition to democracy.
Ten Chinese workers among 27 hostages freed in Cameroon
YAOUNDE (Reuters) – Twenty-seven hostages seized by militant group Boko Haram in Cameroon in May and July have been released, including 10 Chinese workers and the wife of Cameroon’s vice-prime minister, authorities said on Saturday.
About 100,000 evacuated as cyclone Hudhud bears down on India coast
PUDIMADAKA India (Reuters) – At least 100,000 people were evacuated on India’s eastern seaboard on Saturday as cyclone Hudhud bore down, threatening to devastate farmland and fishing villages when it hits the coast on Sunday morning.
