By Tim Reid and Nathan Layne (Reuters) – Real estate mogul Ron Weiser has been one of the biggest donors to the Michigan Republican Party, giving $4.5 million in the recent midterm election cycle. But no more. Weiser, former chair of the party, has halted his funding, citing concerns about the organization’s stewardship. He says…
By Sergiy Chalyi ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (Reuters) – Residents in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia appeared calm on Wednesday after Kyiv’s latest warning that Russian forces could trigger a catastrophe at the nearby Moscow-held nuclear power plant. Both Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday accused each other of plotting to stage an attack on the Zaporizhzhia…
By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) – A senior NATO official said on Wednesday Kosovo and Serbia had not heeded international calls to take steps to de-escalating tensions involving ethnic Serbs in Kosovo’s north which have threatened NATO peacekeepers. Violence in north Kosovo, where 50,000 Serbs live and form a local majority, erupted in late May…
By Andrew MacAskill LONDON (Reuters) – Two Hong Kong activists living in Britain, who were subjects of arrest warrants for alleged national security offences, said on Wednesday they will continue to highlight China’s crackdown on freedoms despite fears for their safety. Hong Kong police issued arrest warrants for eight overseas-based activists on Monday, accusing them…
By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union’s latest democracy health check showed there was no significant deterioration across the 27-nation bloc in areas like media and court freedoms or efforts to tackle corruption over the last year, a top official said on Wednesday. The assessment came as the EU executive released its latest rule…
By Ali Sawafta JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian militant fighters paraded in Jenin on Wednesday and angry crowds confronted senior Palestinian Authority officials, accusing them of weakness, after one of the largest Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank in years. The two-day operation, which the Israeli military said targeted infrastructure and weapons…
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya will delay re-opening its border with Somalia because of a “wave of attacks” it blames on al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants, interior minister Kithure Kindiki said on Wednesday. In May the two governments agreed to reopen within 90 days several border posts including Mandera, Liboi, and Kiunga, which have been closed…
By Anne Kauranen, Johan Ahlander TORNIO, Finland/KARLSKRONA, Sweden (Reuters) -High above a railway bridge spanning a foaming river just outside the Arctic Circle, Finnish construction workers hammer away at a project that will smooth the connections from NATO’s Atlantic coastline in Norway to its new border with Russia. “We will be removing some 1,200 of…
By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) – A mock prison cell imitating one in which prominent Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has spent months of solitary confinement was put on display in Vilnius on Wednesday, ahead of a NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital next week. Oleg Navalny unveiled the display to highlight the case of…
By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia has removed hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants to a desolate area along the border with Libya, a local rights group and a lawmaker said on Wednesday, with witnesses reporting dozens more put on outbound trains following days of violence. Disturbances between migrants and residents went on for a…
