El Salvador to use terror charges against gangs
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – El Salvador’s government on Wednesday said it would charge gang members who attack police and military personnel under anti-terrorism laws, which impose longer prison sentences, to crack down on rising homicides in the poor Cen…
Ex-finance minister Vaz to face Nabiam in Guinea-Bissau presidential run-off
BISSAU (Reuters) – Guinea-Bissau’s former finance minister, Jose Mario Vaz, will face Nuno Gomes Nabiam, an independent candidate, in a May 18 presidential run-off after no candidate secured a majority in the first round, the election commission said.
Nigerian military says most of abducted schoolgirls freed
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s military said on Wednesday its forces had freed most of the schoolgirls abducted by Islamist Boko Haram militants, and were continuing the search for eight students still missing.
Afghan women stand to be counted as West begins to disengage
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Framed by her blue shawl, the solemn, bespectacled face of Serena Faizi peers out from an election campaign poster at a Kandahar city roundabout, while Afghanistan approaches its own crossroads as Western troops prepar…
China’s Xi purging corrupt officials to put own men in place: sources
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to use a purge of senior officials suspected of corruption to put his own men and reform-minded bureaucrats into key positions across the Communist Party, the government and the military, sources s…
Mexico captures senior drug boss operating in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican police have captured the second-in-command of one of the country’s main drug gangs, who was operating in Mexico City, the government said on Wednesday.
Saudi authorities detain activist after court appearance: wife
DUBAI (Reuters) – A prominent Saudi rights lawyer and activist, Waleed Abu al-Khair, has been detained incommunicado by authorities after appearing in court in Riyadh on sedition charges, his wife said on Wednesday.
‘Broke’ U.N. agency pleads for help in Central African Republic
GENEVA (Reuters) – Inter-communal violence is tearing Central African Republic apart but the conflict is not getting the attention, or aid, needed to save huge numbers of lives, the head of the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.
Syrian opposition accuses Assad’s forces of new poison gas attack
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Opposition activists accused President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of a new poison gas attack in the Syrian capital on Wednesday, posting footage of four men being treated by medics.
Audit finds U.S. housing aid program in Haiti falls short
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – A post-earthquake housing program in Haiti funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has delivered only a quarter of the planned number of homes at nearly twice the budgeted cost, according to a governme…
