U.N. seeks sanctions waiver to ship arms to Mali via Ivory Coast
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations is seeking an exemption from a U.N. Security Council arms embargo on Ivory Coast so it can ship weapons and military equipment across the East African nation to its peacekeeping mission in landlocked Mali, …
Iran cuts sensitive nuclear stockpile, key plant delayed: IAEA
VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran has acted to cut its most sensitive nuclear stockpile by nearly 75 percent in implementing a landmark pact with world powers, but a planned facility it will need to fulfill the six-month deal has been delayed, a U.N. report show…
Nigerian state says most abducted schoolgirls still missing
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – Nigeria’s northeast Borno state said on Thursday only 20 of up to 129 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist rebels were back with their parents, casting doubt on a military claim to have freed most of them.
Islamist militants kill 30 in attacks around Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Suspected Sunni Muslim militants killed at least 30 people around Iraq on Thursday including 12 soldiers in an assault on a remote army base in the north, deepening insecurity with a national election just two weeks away.
French troops free five aid workers kidnapped in Mali
BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) – French troops in Mali on Thursday freed five local aid workers kidnapped in February, the presidents of France and Mali said in a joint statement.
Kosovo PM urges vote on new war crimes court but calls it insult
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo’s premier has summoned parliament to vote on creating an EU-backed special court to try ethnic Albanian ex-guerrillas accused of harvesting organs from murdered Serbs during the Balkan state’s 1990s war, but criticized the p…
Turkish ruling party wants Erdogan presidential bid: officials
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s ruling party would overwhelmingly back Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s candidacy in the nation’s first direct presidential election, senior officials said on Thursday, a move his opponents fear would feed his autocratic inst…
Burundi orders U.N. security adviser out after violence warning
BUJUMBURA (Reuters) – Burundi ordered a security adviser at the United Nations mission in the country to leave on Thursday, escalating a row that started with a warning by the U.N. last week of a possible outbreak of political violence.
Russia’s South Stream pipeline splits EU energy policy
LONDON (Reuters) – Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline is splitting European Union energy policy as EU leaders look to block the project while some member states see it as a solution to supply disruptions via Ukraine.
Iraqi Kurds entrench political faultline with Syria border ditch
ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraqi Kurds are digging a 17-km (10-mile) trench on their border with Syria, reinforcing a political faultline between the two rival parties that dominate on either side of the frontier.
