Game of thrones: Afghan leadership vacuum raises summit questions
KABUL (Reuters) – Who, if anyone, will represent Afghanistan at next month’s NATO summit is becoming an increasingly pressing and awkward question for the alliance, as it seeks to withdraw most of its troops and bring a long and deadly engagement close…
Taiwan gas blast kills 15, injures 243: local media
TAIPEI (Reuters) – An explosion caused by a gas leak in the southern Taiwanese city Kaohsiung has killed 15 people and injured another 243, Taiwanese media reported on Friday.
Hacking attack in Canada bears signs of Chinese army unit: expert
OTTAWA/TORONTO (Reuters) – The recent hacking attempt on a sensitive Canadian government computer network is similar to attacks mounted by an elite unit of the Chinese army based in Shanghai, according to a cybersecurity expert.
Sierra Leone declares emergency as Ebola death toll hits 729
FREETOWN (Reuters) – Sierra Leone has declared a state of emergency and called in troops to quarantine Ebola victims, joining neighbouring Liberia in imposing controls as the death toll from the outbreak of the virus hit 729 in West Africa.
Iraqi Kurds, battling Islamist threat, press Washington for arms
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq is pressing the Obama administration for sophisticated weapons it says Kurdish fighters need to push back Islamist militants threatening their region, Kurdish and U.S. officials…
Heavy shelling, clashes spread in Libya’s Tripoli
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Clashes with artillery and rockets spread on Thursday into two Tripoli districts, where rival militia brigades were battling over the airport in Libya’s worst fighting since the 2011 revolt that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.
EU adopts toughest Russian sanctions yet, targets five Russian banks
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union has published a law that will curb arms sales to Russia and to cut off financing for five major Russian banks over Moscow’s support for rebels in Ukraine.
Ukraine premier stays on, envoys agree on crash site route
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s parliament rejected Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk’s resignation on Thursday and finally passed legislation he said was needed to finance an army offensive against a separatist rebellion in the east and avert a national defa…
Ukraine says suspends attacks to let experts reach crash site, rebels deny
KIEV/DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukraine said on Thursday it had suspended offensive operations in its military campaign in east Ukraine to help international experts reach the downed Malaysian airliner’s crash site but separatists were continuing to a…
Town vs. town, faction vs. faction as Libya descends into ‘hurricane’
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Booms of outgoing artillery shaking the ground, militia fighters from the remote Libyan mountain town of Zintan hunker down in the passenger terminal to defend Tripoli airport, the biggest prize in the capital.
