Egypt’s Sisi heads for big win in early provisional count
CAIRO (Reuters) – Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who toppled Egypt’s first freely elected leader, was on course for a sweeping victory in the country’s presidential election on Wednesday, early provisional results showed.
Libya standoff emerges as premier refuses to yield to successor
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s acting prime minister, Abdullah Al-Thinni, on Wednesday refused to hand over power to a newly elected premier after questioning his legitimacy in a deepening confrontation among the OPEC nation’s rival factions.
East Ukraine city largely calm after battle, rebels seek Russian help
DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) – Relative calm returned to the streets of Donetsk on Wednesday after the biggest battle of the pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine, a conflict transformed by the landslide election of a pro-European leader who …
Japan & Australia consider submarine deal that could rattle China
TOKYO/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Japan will get the chance to pursue an unprecedented military export deal when its defense and foreign ministers meet their Australian counterparts in Tokyo next month.
Colombia Conservative Party divided over run-off support
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Marta Lucia Ramirez, who came third in Colombia’s presidential election on Sunday, threw her support behind right-wing contender Oscar Ivan Zuluaga for June’s run-off, even while most lawmakers from her party will back incumbent Juan…
Boko Haram still holding 219 girls, after escape of four more reported
MAIDUGURI Nigeria (Reuters) – Four more of the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month have escaped than previously thought, Nigeria’s Borno state said on Wednesday, but 219 others were still missing and assumed held by the Islamist militants.
Venezuela government accuses opposition leader of ‘coup’ plot
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan officials on Wednesday accused hardline opposition leader Maria Corina Machado of leading plots to topple President Nicolas Maduro in league with U.S. officials.
Israeli soldier suspended after fatal West Bank shootings: reports
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has suspended a soldier in the fatal shootings of two Palestinian teenagers at a protest held on May 15 in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
Turkey’s Erdogan says foes may leak video in bid to smear him
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday followers of an Islamic cleric with whom he’s locked in a power struggle might leak a video about him and his family to smear him before an August presidential election.
U.S. investigates reports of American suicide bomber in Syria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. government agencies were examining social media postings purporting to show how an American who was fighting with an Al Qaeda affiliate blew himself up recently in a suicide attack in northern Syria, U.S. officials said.
