CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Aid organizations fear a new humanitarian crisis in the restive eastern Congo region, where the renowned armed rebel group M23 is in the midst of a new advance that threatens to cut off a major city and leave millions of people struggling for food and medical help. Eastern Congo has … Read more
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Rioting broke out between two rival groups of Eritreans in the Netherlands on Saturday night, police said. Officers used tear gas in an attempt to quell the unrest in The Hague as rioters torched police cars and a bus. Images from the scene showed vehicles in flames and dozens of men … Read more
MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua’s government has shut down the country’s scouting organization and seven other nongovernmental organizations, state media La Gaceta reported Friday, the latest in an ongoing crackdown that has seen the government toss out religious orders, charities and civic groups. The Interior Minister, which regulates the operations of NGOs in the Central American … Read more
BANGUI, Central African Republic — About 10,000 children are still fighting alongside armed groups in Central African Republic more than a decade after civil war broke out, the government said Monday. Marthe Kirima, the minister for family and gender, said in a statement that children are still being recruited as fighters, spies, messengers, cooks and … Read more
Moody’s downgraded Israel’s credit rating Friday and changed its outlook for the country to negative, citing the war with Hamas and reflecting the ratings agency’s concern that the conflict could become a long-term economic burden. Moody’s downgraded Israel’s rating from A1 to A2, which is still in a category it considers “low credit risk.” The … Read more
BELGRADE, Serbia — Media rights groups and opposition campaigners on Saturday condemned a Serbian appeals court ruling that acquitted four former intelligence officers who were jailed for the killing of a prominent journalist and newspaper publisher who was fiercely critical of the government in Belgrade. Slavko Curuvija was shot dead at the entrance to his … Read more
Pakistan’s military said it carried out a series of “highly co-ordinated” military strikes on militant groups in Iran on Thursday. “A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Iranian media reported several explosions and said three women and four children, all of whom were foreign nationals, … Read more
BEIJING — Myanmar’s military has reached a cease-fire agreement with an alliance of ethnic minority guerrilla groups it has been battling in the country’s northeast, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday. Myanmar’s military government confirmed the development, as did the ethnic alliance. The agreement was brokered at talks mediated by China on Wednesday and Thursday … Read more
BEIJING — Myanmar’s military has reached a cease-fire agreement with an alliance of ethnic minority guerrilla groups it has been battling in the country’s northeast, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday. Myanmar’s militray government confirmed the development. The agreement was brokered at talks mediated by China on Wednesday and Thursday in Kunming, a Chinese provincial … Read more
Mariska Hargitay revealed this week that she’s a survivor of sexual assault — something a number of orgs advocating on behalf of victims are singing her praises over, for good reason. The actress penned a gut-wrenching piece for People this week detailing her experience — which detailed what she says was an outright rape committed … Read more