Russia holds war games near Ukraine; Merkel warns of catastrophe
BERLIN/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia launched new military exercises near its border with Ukraine on Thursday, showing no sign of backing down on plans to annex its neighbor’s Crimea region despite a stronger than expected drive for sanctions from the EU a…
Turkey’s Erdogan condemns protesters as deaths fuel tensions
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan condemned anti-government protesters on Thursday as “charlatans” bent on sowing chaos in the run-up to local elections after Turkey’s worst civil unrest since mass protests last summer.
Bin Laden relative admitted al Qaeda link, FBI agent says
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Suleiman Abu Ghaith admitted that months before al Qaeda’s 2001 hijacked jet attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he promised Osama bin Laden he would be a spokesman for the group, an FBI agent testified on Thursday …
House of Cards, credibility gap blunt China annual TV expose
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Waning popularity and a wounded reputation are likely to dull the edge of China’s consumer day TV expose when it airs on Saturday, offering some relief for companies that have in the past taken pains to avoid any fallout from the o…
Sudan rebel leaders, 15 others, condemned to death – lawyer
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Two leaders from the main rebel alliance opposing Sudan’s president and 15 members of their group were sentenced to death in absentia on Thursday, their lawyer said, a move that will raise the stakes in fighting in southern regions…
Former guerrilla wins El Salvador vote; rival protests
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – A former Marxist guerrilla leader won El Salvador’s presidential election by less than 7,000 votes, final results showed on Thursday, and his right-wing rival continued to press to have the vote annulled.
Troop, equipment gaps threaten EU’s Central African Republic mission
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A European Union plan to send a military force to keep the peace in Central African Republic is in jeopardy because of the failure of European governments to provide soldiers and equipment, EU sources said on Thursday.
Rebels, Islamists form dangerous alliance in Pakistan’s unruly southwest
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – One is a band of separatists fighting for independence from Pakistan. The other is a feared group of Islamists bent on killing Shi’ite Muslims whom they see as infidels.
U.N. sees serious setbacks in anti-drugs fight
VIENNA (Reuters) – The global fight against narcotics has suffered serious setbacks, including record opium cultivation in Afghanistan and a surge of trafficking-related violence in Central America, the U.N. anti-drugs chief said on Thursday.
Sierra Leone’s wartime president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah dies
FREETOWN (Reuters) – Sierra Leone’s former president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, widely credited for ending an 11-year civil war, died on Thursday at the age of 82 after a long illness.
