Nigeria’s president orders full scale offensive on Boko Haram
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s president said on Thursday he had ordered “a full-scale operation” against Boko Haram Islamist militants and sought to reassure parents of 219 schoolgirls being held by the group that their children would be freed.
Chaos over premier’s post as Libya slides into uncertainty
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya stumbled deeper into chaos on Thursday uncertain over who runs the country after rival prime ministers both claimed legitimacy in a confrontation threatening to turn into violence among rival factions.
Niger jails man for four years in first slavery case
NIAMEY (Reuters) – A court in the West African state of Niger has sentenced a man to four years in jail in the country’s first prosecution for slavery, a magistrate said on Thursday.
Gunmen on motorbikes kill 32 villagers in northeast Nigeria
MAIDUGURI Nigeria (Reuters) – – Gunmen mounted on motorbikes killed at least 32 people in the northeastern Nigerian village of Gurmushi, a police source said on Thursday.
Spain’s Basque Country proclaims right to self-determination
MADRID (Reuters) – Lawmakers in Spain’s Basque Country on Thursday adopted a declaration of self-determination, stepping up a push for more powers and potentially creating a new political headache for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Sex and drugs worth $16.7 billion to UK economy, statisticians say
LONDON (Reuters) – They already know what rock’n’roll is worth, so now Britain’s statisticians are getting to grips with sex and drugs in a bid to give a broader view of the size of the economy.
Six injured in building site collapse on new Turkish railway
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Six workers were injured when part of a building site on a new Turkish high-speed rail line, still under testing, collapsed in the northwestern province of Sakarya on Thursday, the Turkish state railway company said.
UK Iraq war inquiry ‘unblocked’ after deal on Blair/Bush letters
LONDON (Reuters) – The long-delayed results of Britain’s inquiry into the Iraq War came a step closer to publication on Thursday after a deal was reached on how to use notes and phone call records between then prime minister Tony Blair and U.S. preside…
Le Pen as President? France thinks the unthinkable
PARIS (Reuters) – The victory of France’s far-right National Front in EU elections and the disarray of its two main parties has the French asking themselves an awkward question: could its leader Marine Le Pen be their next president?
Ukraine’s empty seat at table darkens party for Putin’s new ex-Soviet bloc
ASTANA (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Kazakhstan and Belarus on Thursday into a new Eurasian Economic Union built to rival the United States, EU and China – but the absence of Ukraine undermined his dream of restoring Soviet glor…
