U.N. study finds peacekeepers avoid using force to protect civilians
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – United Nations peacekeeping missions routinely avoid using force to protect civilians who are under attack, intervening in only 20 percent of cases despite being authorized to do so by the U.N. Security Council, an internal U…
U.S. warns ‘time is short’ as Iran nuclear talks make little progress
VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers made little progress this week in talks on ending their dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program, U.S. and Iranian officials said on Friday, raising doubts over the prospects for a breakthrough by a July 20 dea…
Abductions seen as just one factor in coming Nigeria election
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s last-minute decision to cancel his first visit to the village where Islamist rebels abducted more than 200 schoolgirls has sharpened criticism of his handling of the crisis.
Ivory Coast army retakes border town after attack kills 13
ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Ivory Coast’s army took back control of a village on its southwestern border with Liberia on Friday after gunmen seized it in an attack that killed 13 people, the country’s defense minister said.
Violence abates in Vietnam as U.S. warns China for ‘provocation’
HANOI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Anti-China violence subsided in Vietnam on Friday after the prime minister called for calm, but the United States said China’s “provocative” actions in maritime disputes were dangerous and had to stop.
Colombia government, FARC rebels reach accord on illegal drug trade: source
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian government negotiators reached agreement with Marxist FARC rebels on the illegal drugs trade, the third item on a five-point agenda in peace talks to end a five-decade war, a source at the High Peace Commission told Reuters…
Dominican Republic’s ’empty bottles’ diplomats under scrutiny
SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) – Diplomatic postings make for some of the cushiest jobs in many poor countries, but the Dominican Republic’s foreign service appears to have few rivals in the Americas when it comes to political cronyism and wasted taxpayers’ m…
Algeria evacuates diplomats from Libya after threats
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria sent a team of special forces to evacuate its ambassador and embassy staff from Libya in a military plane after a militant threat to its embassy, officials and a security source said on Friday.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah disapproves of patriarch’s Jerusalem trip
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement told the head of the Maronite church on Friday that his planned trip to Jerusalem to accompany Pope Francis would have “negative repercussions”.
Teenager kills man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan police station
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A teenager walked into a Pakistani police station on Friday and shot dead a 65-year-old man from a minority sect accused of blasphemy, their spokesman said, the second murder involving the country’s controversial blasphemy laws in…
