Somalia clan leader tightens grip on strategic port city
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A clan leader opposed by Somalia’s federal government has strengthened his grip on Kismayu after three days of fighting against rival militias battling for control of the strategic southern port city, residents said on Sunday.
Obama meets Mandela family, police disperse protesters
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama met the family of South Africa’s ailing anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela on Saturday, offering words of comfort and praising the critically ill retired statesman as one of history’s greatest figure…
U.S. taps half-billion German phone, internet links in month: report
BERLIN (Reuters) – The United States taps half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month and has classed its biggest European ally as a target similar to China, according to secret U.S. documents quoted by a German n…
Philippines rebukes China for ‘militarization’ in South China Sea
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Reuters) – The Philippines hit out at China on Sunday over the “increasing militarization” of the South China Sea as tensions between the neighbors flared amid slow-moving regional efforts to forge a compromise over one of Asia’s n…
Syrian army, backed by jets, launches assault on Homs
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces launched a major offensive on Saturday against rebels in Homs, a centre of the two-year-old uprising, in their latest drive to secure an axis connecting Damascus to the Mediterranean.
Petrocaribe leaders agree to focus efforts on boosting trade
MANAGUA (Reuters) – Delegations from over a dozen countries that are members of the Venezuelan-led oil alliance Petrocaribe agreed on Saturday to adopt a framework for promoting trade within the block.
WHO wants HIV patients treated sooner to save lives, halt spread
LONDON (Reuters) – Doctors could save three million more lives worldwide by 2025 if they offer AIDS drugs to people with HIV much sooner after they test positive for the virus, the World Health Organization said on Sunday.
Obama to unveil broad African electrical power initiative
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Pointing to Africa’s crippling lack of electrical power, President Barack Obama is due to announce on Sunday a $7 billion initiative over five years to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa.
Obama sees no threat in China rivalry for Africa business
PRETORIA (Reuters) – The United States does not feel threatened by the growth of trade and investment in Africa by China and other emerging powers, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday.
China’s troubled Xinjiang hit by more violence: state media
BEIJING (Reuters) – More than a hundred people, riding motorbikes and wielding knives, attacked a police station in China’s ethnically divided western region of Xinjiang, state media said on Saturday, in the latest unrest to hit the region in the past …
