Tunisia union calls general strike after killing
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s largest labor organization, the UGTT, said it would hold a general strike on Friday to protest against the assassination of opposition figure Mohamed Brahmi, officials said
Opposition hopes to clip wings of ruling family in Togo vote
LOME (Reuters) – Voters in Togo went to the polls on Thursday in a delayed parliamentary election the opposition hopes will hand it a majority needed to push through reforms aimed at limiting the power of one of Africa’s oldest political dynasties.
Algeria puts army in charge of fighting drug trafficking
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria has identified drug trafficking as a top national security threat linked to militancy in the region and put its powerful army in charge of fighting it, interior minister Daho Ould Kablia said.
Death toll at Spain train disaster rises to 80: official
MADRID (Reuters) – The derailment of a train in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia has killed 80 people and 94 are still injured, the deputy head of the regional government said on Thursday.
Arrested prelate denies stealing, laundering in letter to pope
ROME (Reuters) – A Catholic prelate at the center of a suspected money-smuggling operation denied stealing and laundering cash in a letter he sent to Pope Francis from his jail cell which his lawyers released on Thursday.
Insight: ‘Crude for blood’ – return of sectarian war hits Iraq’s oil exports
BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq’s Sunni insurgents are targeting its main northern oil pipeline, undoing plans for a massive increase in exports as violence reaches levels unseen since the darkest days of civil war.
IMF says still not talking to Egypt’s interim government
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it will not engage in talks about a possible $4.8 billion loan to Egypt until the country’s interim government gains recognition from the international community.
Egypt arrests and threatens to deport Syrian refugees: HRW
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt has been detaining Syrian refugees without charge and threatening to deport them in a climate of growing hostility since the army seized power this month, the rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.
Protesters set fire to Tunisia ruling party headquarters in Sidi Bouzid
TUNIS (Reuters) – Protesters set fire to the headquarters of Tunisia’s Islamist ruling party Ennahda in the city of Sidi Bouzid after the assassination of opposition figure Mohamed Brahmi on Thursday, witnesses said.
Train involved in Spanish crash built by Bombardier and Talgo: Bombardier
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian train and plane maker Bombardier Inc said on Thursday the train involved in the Spanish rail crash that killed at least 78 people was built by its consortium with Spanish intercity passenger train maker Talgo.
