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.
European lawmaker sentenced to three-and-half years after bribery retrial
VIENNA (Reuters) – A former member of the European Parliament was sentenced to 3-1/2 years in jail by a Vienna court on Thursday after his retrial in a cash-for-laws case, Austrian media reported.
Crimea leader sees over 80 percent backing Russia union
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) – The leader of Crimea’s separatist authorities said more than 80 percent of the region’s people supported the break with Ukraine and union with Russia that they will vote on in a referendum on Sunday.
Russia blocks internet sites of Putin critics
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia blocked access to the internet sites of prominent Kremlin foes Alexei Navalny and Garry Kasparov on Thursday under a new law critics say is designed to silence dissent in President Vladimir Putin’s third term.
Mediator Brahimi says Syria election now won’t aid peace talks
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – If Syria goes ahead with an election that would likely secure a new term for President Bashar al-Assad, the opposition will probably not be interested in pursuing further peace talks with the government, peace mediator Lakhda…
Sudan rebel leaders, 15 others, condemned to death – lawyer
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Two leaders from the main rebel alliance fighting 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…
Gunmen kill at least 40 in Nigerian ethnic violence
KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) – Gunmen have killed at least 40 people in a series of attacks in the northern Nigerian state of Katsina, in violence between rival ethnic groups over farmland and cattle, police said on Thursday.
