Afghanistan’s election watchdog plagued by delays, funding woes
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s election watchdog may not be ready in time for a presidential vote in April because of funding and staffing problems, a setback that could undermine a ballot already threatened by a repeat of the widespread fraud seen in…
Syrian rebels declare new assault on Aleppo after Assad gains
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Rebels announced a new military campaign in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on Thursday, a few days after government forces stepped up air attacks in a bid to recapture territory and drive residents out of opposition-held area…
Egypt army chief Sisi says he will run for president: report
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who deposed the country’s first freely elected leader, has said he will run for president, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Thursday.
At least eight dead in South African gold mine accident
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Rescuers recovered eight bodies and continued to search for another missing worker on Thursday after a fire and rock-fall at a Harmony Gold mine near Johannesburg, the worst accident in South Africa’s mines in nearly five years…
Russia says now is not the time for U.N. resolution on aid to Syria
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – As Western and Arab nations prepared to push for a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for better access to aid in war-torn Syria, Russia said on Wednesday that now was not the right time for such a move.
Italy rescues more than 1,100 migrants in rafts south of Sicily
ROME (Reuters) – The Italian navy has rescued more than 1,100 migrants from nine large rafts in the waters south of Sicily, the latest arrivals from North Africa.
Ceasefire violations on Kashmir border down: India’s defense minister
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Ceasefire violations on India’s de-facto border with Pakistan have come down over the past two to three months, India’s defense minister A.K. Antony told reporters at a defense exhibition on Thursday.
Iraq illegally detains thousands of women, tortures many: HRW
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi authorities are detaining thousands of women illegally and subjecting many to torture and ill-treatment, including the threat of sexual abuse, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Thursday.
U.N. chief opposes LGBT attacks as Sochi set to start
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – In the first address by a United Nations secretary general to an International Olympic Committee (IOC) session, Ban Ki-moon condemned discrimination and attacks on people based on their sexual orientation.
Sri Lankan forces may have destroyed evidence of mass killings-new report
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Government forces were behind most of the alleged war crimes in the final bloody months of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war and may have systematically destroyed evidence of mass killings, according to a new Australian report.
