By Megha Rajagopalan and John Ruwitch JIANLI, China (Reuters) – Hundreds of relatives of passengers from a Chinese cruise ship that foundered on the Yangtze River gathered in a public square in Jianli on Thursday clutching candles and flowers, as rescue officials began the arduous task of righting the vessel. Several family members, their eyes brimming with tears, knelt in the centre of the city square, about a-1.5 hour drive
By Mahmoud Mourad CAIRO (Reuters) – Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will face a second and final retrial over the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his 30-year rule, a high court said on Thursday. Mubarak, 87, was originally sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for conspiring to murder 239 demonstrators, sowing chaos and creating a security vacuum during an 18-day revolt which began in Jan.
By Angus McDowall DAMMAM, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – When Sunni suicide bombers belonging to an Islamic State cell targeted mosques of Saudi Arabia’s minority Shi’ite community last month, the government quickly pledged national unity across sectarian lines and offered compensation. The attacks throw the royal family’s commitment to diversity into the spotlight just as animosity towards the minority rises along with tensions between Saudi Arabia and regional arch rival Shi’ite
By Luke Baker JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Every morning at 7.30, Murad Hamad sets up a flimsy plastic chair in the shade of the Moroccans’ Gate entrance to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem and waits for the tourists to arrive. Hamad’s job is to help keep the peace at one of the world’s holiest places, a site sacred to both Muslims, who call the compound the Noble Sanctuary, and to
By Dasha Afanasieva GAZIANTEP, Turkey (Reuters) – Levent Hocazade makes no apology for taking part in violent protests against Syrian refugees in this Turkish border province, where an influx of hundreds of thousands fleeing war has heightened competition for jobs and sent rents rocketing. Gaziantep has long been a bastion of support for Turkey’s AK Party, its small industry and agriculture flourishing over a decade of AKP rule. The Islamist-rooted
Five men were charged on Thursday in connection with an attack by Somali Islamist gunmen on Garissa University in northeast Kenya that killed 148 students, the worst militant attack in the east African nation in almost two decades. The assault on Garissa University on April 2, in which gunmen from Somalia’s al Shabaab group stormed in and sought to kill Christian students, has piled pressure on President Uhuru Kenyatta to
PARIS (AP) — Lucie Safarova advanced to her first Grand Slam final with a 7-5, 7-5 win over former champion Ana Ivanovic at the French Open on Thursday.
TOKYO (AP) — North Korean space agency officials say the country is developing a more advanced Earth observation satellite and are defending their right to conduct rocket launches whenever they see fit, despite protests by the United States and others that the launches are aimed primarily at honing military-use technologies.
Katie Couric talks with the lead plaintiff in a Supreme Court case that could change gay rights in America forever.