Tunisia policeman killed in pre-election clash with militants
OUED ELLIL Tunisia (Reuters) – A Tunisian policeman was killed and another wounded on Thursday when security forces clashed with Islamist militants on the outskirts of Tunis, three days before parliamentary elections which voters hope will help them ad…
USAID tamped down internal criticism over Egypt work: report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Auditors and employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development say critical assessments of the agency’s work in Egypt were removed from a report before it was released by the agency’s inspector general, the Washington Po…
Mexico says mayor, wife were behind student-teacher disappearances
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A Mexican mayor and his wife were “probable masterminds” behind the disappearance of 43 student-teachers last month in the restive southwest, the country’s attorney general said on Wednesday.
U.S.-led air strikes killed 521 fighters, 32 civilians in Syria: monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Air strikes by U.S.-led forces have killed 521 Islamist fighters and 32 civilians during a month-long campaign in Syria, a monitoring group which tracks the violence said on Thursday.
Three Azeri workers die in offshore platform accident
BAKU (Reuters) – Three workers were killed and one is still missing after an accident at one of the offshore oil and gas platforms in the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan, Azeri state energy company SOCAR said on Thursday.
Islamic State militants seize Iraq village, press assault on Yazidis
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Islamic State wrested a Sunni Muslim village in western Iraq on Thursday from tribal defenders who put up weeks of fierce resistance, and the insurgents tightened a siege of the Yazidi minority on a mountain in the north.
Cash aid for refugees succeeds despite donors’ doubts
BEIRUT (Reuters) – For decades, aid groups have assumed they know what’s best for refugees and the poor; a growing body of evidence suggests they’re wrong.
Economic bounce, tough campaign point to Rousseff win in Brazil
MATEUS LEME Brazil (Reuters) – President Dilma Rousseff looks positioned to narrowly win a second term on Sunday thanks to a slight rebound in the economy and her success in portraying her rival as an elitist who would take Brazil back to a more heartl…
Pistorius shoves race, crime and punishment in South Africa’s face
PRETORIA (Reuters) – As Oscar Pistorius spent his first day behind bars this week, a suspected child rapist and murderer went on trial at the same Pretoria court in a case that has also provoked fierce debate about crime and punishment in post-aparthei…
U.N. rights watchdog calls for open elections in Hong Kong
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations Human Rights Committee called on China on Thursday to ensure universal suffrage in Hong Kong, stressing that included the right to stand for election as well as the right to vote.
