Mali imposes national military service amid separatist tensions
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mali is to introduce compulsory national service for men and women aged 18 to 35, the government announced, after clashes between northern Tuareg separatists and the army last month.
Gaza servants scuffle in unity government salary dispute
GAZA (Reuters) – Employees who have been on separate payrolls of rival Palestinian governments traded blows at Gaza banks on Thursday when those hired by Hamas did not receive their wages under a new unity administration.
Cameron’s party set to shrug off European vote defeat to hold UK seat
NEWARK England/LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives are poised to win a vote for a parliamentary seat on Thursday despite being beaten into third place by an insurgent Eurosceptic party in last month’s European electi…
Colombian peace negotiator demands FARC hand in weapons
HAVANA (Reuters) – A retired Colombian general who is on the government’s peace negotiating team on Thursday demanded that FARC rebels hand in their weapons in an unexpected riposte to guerrilla criticism of the Colombian military.
India’s Modi hopes to meet Obama in Washington in fall: source
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes to accept an invitation from President Barack Obama to visit Washington this fall, an Indian government source said on Thursday, signalling a new start in ties for a leader once denied a U…
World Cup leaves Brazil costly stadiums, poor public transport
BRASILIA (Reuters) – When the final whistle blows at the World Cup, Brazilians will be left with some of the world’s costliest soccer stadiums and few of the public transport improvements they were promised.
Pope fires entire board of Vatican financial watchdog
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis sacked the five-man board of the Vatican’s financial watchdog on Thursday – all Italians – in the latest move to break with an old guard associated with a murky past under his predecessor.
Israel says Iran giving ‘false explanations’ to U.N. nuclear inquiry
VIENNA (Reuters) – Israel has condemned as unacceptably slow Iran’s cooperation with a U.N. watchdog inquiry into suspected nuclear bomb research and accused Tehran of providing “false” explanations for its disputed activities.
Iraq dislodges insurgents from city of Samarra with airstrikes
TIKRIT Iraq (Reuters) – Iraqi helicopters bombed the city of Samarra after insurgents overran parts of it early on Thursday, bringing them within striking distance of a Shi’ite shrine the destruction of which in a 2006 attack unleashed a bitter sectari…
Left out of G7 summit, Putin wishes world leaders “bon appetit”
ST PETERSBURG Russia (Reuters) – Vladimir Putin, shut out of a G7 summit over Russia’s role in Ukraine, parried the snub on Thursday with a terse message for world leaders who lunched without him in Brussels on Thursday: “Bon appetit”.
