Migrants snared in multi-million dollar kidnap racket on U.S.-Mexico border
REYNOSA Mexico (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Central American migrants are being kidnapped, abused and extorted by Mexican gangs just yards from the United States in a growing racket that may be worth up to $250 million a year.
British parliament to hold symbolic vote on Palestine status
LONDON (Reuters) – British lawmakers will hold a symbolic parliamentary vote on Monday on whether the government should recognize Palestine as a state, a move unlikely to shift official policy but designed to raise the political profile of the issue.
Kurds hold off Islamic State in Kobani; fighters strike in Iraq
MURSITPINAR Turkey/BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Kurdish defenders held off Islamic State militants in Syria’s border town of Kobani on Sunday, but the fighters struck with deadly bombings in Iraq, killing dozens of Kurds in the north and assassinating a provinc…
Divided nationalists ahead in Bosnia
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Nationalists with little shared vision of Bosnia’s future were in the lead in an election for the three-person presidency on Sunday, likely portending more dysfunction in a country still haunted by the divisions of a 1992-95 war.
Record bust in Cambodia signals Thai dollar counterfeiting boom
BATTAMBANG Cambodia (Reuters) – Brigadier General Sar Theth is the police chief of Battambang, a languid riverside town in western Cambodia. You could also call him the seven million dollar man.
Bolivia votes in presidential poll; Morales seen cruising to win
LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivians voted on Sunday in an election that is almost certain to hand a third consecutive term to President Evo Morales, a former coca farmer who promises to consolidate leftist reforms that have expanded the role of the state in a…
Putin orders Russian troop withdrawal from Ukrainian border
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian troops to withdraw to their permanent bases after military exercises in Rostov region near the border with Ukraine, the Kremlin said, in a sign of some tension easing before a key …
Kerry pushes for Mideast peace, donors pledge $5 billion for Palestinians
CAIRO (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Sunday for a renewed commitment to achieving Middle East peace, saying a lasting deal between Israel, the Palestinians and all their neighbors was possible.
Islamist rebels blamed for car bomb in Somalia, at least seven dead
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Suspected Islamist rebels detonated a car bomb in front of a popular cafe in the center of the Somali capital on Sunday evening, killing at least seven people, police and the emergency services said.
Panama salsa singer Ruben Blades mulls second run at presidency
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panamanian salsa star Ruben Blades said on Sunday he could be a candidate in Panama’s 2019 presidential election, which would mark his second attempt at the presidency.
