Netanyahu’s strongest challengers form alliance for Israeli election
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strongest challengers in an election in April joined forces on Thursday, adding potency to the centrist candidates’ bid to end the right-wing leader’s decade in power.
Islamic State teen Begum asks UK to show ‘more mercy’: Sky News
A teenager who was stripped of her British citizenship after leaving London to join the Islamic State group has asked the government to re-evaluate her case and show “a bit more mercy” as she seeks to return to Britain.
Maduro threatens to close Colombia border as opposition travels to receive aid
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido left Caracas with some 80 lawmakers on Thursday headed for the Colombian border where they hope to receive humanitarian aid in defiance of President Nicolas Maduro, who threatened to close it.
Citgo’s new board arrives in Houston, to hold first meeting: sources
A board of directors appointed this month by Venezuela’s opposition-controlled congress to run state-owned oil firm PDVSA’s U.S. unit Citgo Petroleum on Thursday was arranging its first meeting at the company’s headquarters, according with two people f…
Canada PM puzzled by minister’s resignation, despite briefing
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said he was still puzzled by the decision of former veterans affairs minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to quit last week, even after she addressed the Cabinet on Tuesday.
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi drops off U.N. agenda in Geneva next week
Myanmar will be represented by a government minister at a U.N. conference in Geneva next week, and not by the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the latest agenda for the meeting on Thursday.
Algeria’s president to visit Switzerland for medical checks: presidency statement
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will travel to Switzerland on Sunday for routine medical checks, his office said in a statement without elaborating.
Victims testify at child sex abuse conference, Pope promises to fight ‘enemy within’
Pope Francis promised that concrete action against child sexual abuse by priests would result from a conference he opened on Thursday, with one cardinal acknowledging that the Church had to fight “the enemy within”.
Slovaks protest lack of progress one year since journalist’s murder
Thousands of Slovaks rallied to mark the first anniversary of the killing of an investigative reporter and his fiancee on Thursday and to protest what they see as a lack of government action against the sleaze he wrote about.
Operation to end last IS Syria pocket hits evacuation snag
The operation to destroy Islamic State’s final vestige of rule in Iraq and Syria hit a temporary snag on Thursday, as an expected evacuation of the remaining civilians from its last enclave in eastern Syria did not go ahead.
