Syrian army seizes ancient Christian town near Lebanon border
MAALOULA, Syria (Reuters) – Syrian soldiers backed by Hezbollah fighters recaptured the town of Maaloula, north of Damascus, on Monday, military sources and state television said, further squeezing rebels’ supply routes through the Qalamoun mountains i…
Sierra Leone charges 14 soldiers with mutiny
FREETOWN (Reuters) – A Sierra Leone military court has charged 13 soldiers and a captain with mutiny and denied them bail, a judge said on Monday, eight months after they were arrested for planning a protest against the president.
Nigeria bus station bombing kills 71 on edge of capital
ABUJA (Reuters) – A morning rush hour bomb killed at least 71 people at a Nigerian bus station on the outskirts of the capital on Monday, raising concerns about the spread of an Islamist insurgency after the deadliest ever attack on Abuja.
Separatists tighten grip on east Ukraine, EU agrees more sanctions on Moscow
SLAVIANSK/DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – Armed pro-Russian separatists seized more buildings in eastern Ukraine on Monday, expanding their control after the government failed to follow through on threatened military crackdown leaving Moscow’s partisans e…
Two NY broker-dealer executives charged in Venezuelan bribery case
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two former executives of a defunct New York broker-dealer were indicted Monday as part of a widening U.S. investigation into foreign bribery involving their employer and Venezuelan state economic development banks.
Former Egyptian finance minister detained in France: report
CAIRO (Reuters) – Former Egyptian finance minister Youssef Boutros Ghali was detained in Paris on Monday on an international warrant over corruption charges relating to his time in former President Hosni Mubarak’s government, the state news agency repo…
Iran asks for U.N. committee meeting on U.S. ban on envoy
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran requested on Monday a special meeting of a U.N. committee on the United States’ refusal to grant a visa to Tehran’s new U.N. ambassador appointee, but it has so far refrained from calling for any specific action, the com…
Israeli motorist killed in West Bank shooting: army
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An Israeli man was killed in a shooting attack on a civilian car near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, military sources said.
As fires die down, Chileans return to ravaged Valparaiso
VALPARAISO/SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Devastated Chileans surveyed damage to their homes in Valparaiso on Monday as a massive fire that burned poor neighborhoods of the coastal city over the weekend began to die down.
Congo militia chief ‘Morgan’ killed in army firefight: government
KINSHASA (Reuters) – A militia leader accused of kidnap, rape and cannibalism in Democratic Republic of Congo was killed on Monday alongside four other people during a firefight as he sought to escape his army captors, the government said.
