Sandbags and security in Shi’ite Beirut after bombings
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Eight years ago Hassan Ghamlouche’s jewellery shop was gutted when Israeli jets bombarded the Hezbollah-controlled district of southern Beirut where he works.
Potatoes for a week: a South African platinum miner on strike
MERITING, South Africa (Reuters) – South African miner Venter Mulutsi has one food item in his small fridge: a bag of potatoes that he hopes will last a week.
Insight: After Syria, al Qaeda expanding in Lebanon
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Faced with recent setbacks in Iraq and Syria, al Qaeda is slowly but firmly gaining influence in Lebanon, helped by the country’s increasing sectarian violence and the turmoil caused by Syria’s civil war, sources close to the group s…
Gunmen kidnap son of Libyan special forces chief
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Gunmen kidnapped the son of the Libyan army’s special forces commander on Thursday, the latest high-profile abduction in the eastern city of Benghazi where the military has been battling Islamist militants.
Exclusive: Disputed Congo report says miners owe $3.7 billion in tax, fines
KINSHASA (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo is owed an estimated $3.7 billion in unpaid customs duties and fines by companies operating in its copper-rich Katanga province between 2008 and 2013, according to an unpublished report commissioned by …
Support crumbles in east Libya for oil blockade leader
AJDABIYA, Libya (Reuters) – Support is ebbing in east Libya for a six month blockade of its three oil ports, and for former rebel commander Ibrahim al-Jathran whose force led the seizure.
U.S. urges South Sudan to free last detainees to secure peace
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The United States called on South Sudan on Thursday to release the last four of a group of detainees held on suspicion of trying to stage a coup, a move that could clear a major sticking point in talks to end weeks of fighting.
Russia says identifies bombers, arrests two in Volgograd blasts
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has identified two suicide bombers responsible for attacks that killed 34 people in the city of Volgograd last month and arrested two suspected accomplices in the violence-torn Dagestan province, officials said on Thursday.
Ireland PM apologizes for schoolgirl abuse case
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny apologized on Thursday to a woman who suffered sexual abuse by a teacher while at a Catholic-run school in 1973, after a European court ruled the state had failed to protect her.
Insight: Fight for Istanbul likely to shape Turkish political landscape
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Immaculately coiffed with a camera-ready smile, Mustafa Sarigul’s composure cracks a little as his campaign bus swings towards Istanbul’s old city walls.
