05/25/2013 -  Kerry stresses respect for human rights with Nigerian president - 04:47 PM

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry, who last week expressed concern about allegations of gross human rights violations by Nigerian forces fighting the Boko Haram Islamist sect, raised the issue with the country's president directly on Saturday, a U.S. official said.

05/25/2013 -  British police arrest three over soldier's killing - 04:39 PM

LONDON (Reuters) - British counter-terrorism police on Saturday arrested three people suspected of involvement in the killing of a soldier hacked to death in a London street by two men shouting Islamist slogans.

05/25/2013 -  Kerry presses Egypt on economic reform, says aid depends on it - 03:35 PM

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry urged Egypt to act swiftly on economic reforms to secure a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan, saying the measures were needed to get further aid from the U.S. Congress, an American official said.

05/25/2013 -  Syrian opposition struggles for unity as battle rages - 03:02 PM

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's opposition resumed talks on Saturday aimed at closing their fractious ranks, as government forces launched a fierce onslaught on a rebel-held border town to try to gain the upper hand in the civil war.

05/25/2013 -  At least five killed as Guinea protests escalate - 02:28 PM

CONAKRY (Reuters) - At least five people were killed on Saturday when security forces in Guinea opened fire on protesters in opposition strongholds in the capital, medical sources and witnesses said.

05/25/2013 -  French soldier stabbed while on patrol near Paris - 02:06 PM

PARIS (Reuters) - A French soldier patrolling a business neighborhood west of Paris was stabbed in the neck and injured on Saturday by a man who fled the scene and is being sought by police, President Francois Hollande said.

05/25/2013 -  Bomb in Yemeni military vehicle kills two and injures six - 12:42 PM

ADEN (Reuters) - A remotely-detonated bomb planted in a military vehicle killed a soldier and a civilian and injured six other soldiers in the Hadramaut region of eastern Yemen on Saturday evening, a local security official said.

05/25/2013 -  Nigerian army says rescues hostages taken by Islamists - 12:26 PM

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's military has freed a number of women and children held hostage by Islamist sect Boko Haram, the army said on Saturday, after its offensive in the northeast of the country overran three of the insurgents' camps.

05/25/2013 -  Hezbollah, Syrian government forces advance in border town - 12:12 PM

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah launched a fierce campaign to seize more rebel territory in the border town of Qusair on Saturday, sources on both sides of the conflict said.

05/25/2013 -  New fighting in central Sudanese state - 11:52 AM

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - New fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and rebels in a central state where insurgents launched a major attack last month, both sides said on Saturday.

05/25/2013 -  Egypt court rejects religious slogans in election law - 11:41 AM

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's highest court ruled on Saturday that parts of a revised election law setting out terms for a parliamentary vote were unconstitutional, casting fresh doubt over a poll that has already been delayed.

05/25/2013 -  Interpol rejects Russia's 'political' case against fund manager Browder - 10:20 AM

MOSCOW, May 25 - Interpol has refused to include UK-based fund manager William Browder on its international search list after deciding that Russia's tax evasion case against him is "of a predominantly political nature".

05/25/2013 -  Niger attacks launched from southern Libya: Niger's president - 10:12 AM

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Islamist militants who carried out simultaneous suicide attacks on an army base and a French uranium mine in northern Niger two days ago came from southern Libya, Niger's president said on Saturday.

05/25/2013 -  Madagascar president sets out terms for quitting election race - 10:10 AM

ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar's president Andry Rajoelina, under international pressure not to seek re-election in July, has set out the terms under which he would withdraw from the race, but warned that the specter of civil war loomed over the Indian Ocean island.

05/25/2013 -  Russian pro-, anti-gay activists arrested after defying ban - 08:50 AM

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police detained around 30 pro- and anti-gay activists in central Moscow on Saturday, imposing the city's ban on gay rights demonstrations.

05/25/2013 -  Aid groups urge EU to fulfil commitments to Palestinians - 08:10 AM

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A group of 80 international aid agencies urged the European Union on Saturday to follow through on pledges it made last year to back Palestinian communities seen as vulnerable to Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

05/25/2013 -  Sixth night of violence in Sweden, but police say capital calmer - 07:24 AM

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Community patrols and a beefed-up police presence helped to calm violence around Stockholm overnight on Saturday but 20 to 30 cars were still torched in poor immigrant suburbs and serious incidents were reported outside the capital for the first time.

05/25/2013 -  Sudan suspends two biggest dailies for critical coverage: editors - 06:38 AM

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's security services temporarily suspended the country's two biggest newspapers to punish them for writing about army operations against rebels and the future plans of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, editors said on Saturday.

05/25/2013 -  As border tightens, some U.S.-Mexico neighbors reach across the fence - 06:30 AM

NACO, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican activist Maria Elena Borquez takes up a paintbrush and daubs a bright splotch of color on the rusted steel fence separating the small Mexican town of Naco from a neighboring town in the United States.

05/25/2013 -  Ukraine's first gay march held under police protection - 06:03 AM

KIEV (Reuters) - About 100 Ukrainian gay rights activists held the country's first gay rally on Saturday, helped by police who arrested 13 people for trying to break up the march.

05/25/2013 -  Interpol rejects Russia's 'political' case against fund manager Browder - 05:36 AM

MOSCOW - Interpol has refused to include UK-based fund manager William Browder on its international search list after deciding that Russia's tax evasion case against him is "of a predominantly political nature".

05/25/2013 -  Suicide car bombing in Russia's Dagestan injures 11 - 05:30 AM

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew herself up in car near a police building in Russia's Dagestan region on Saturday, injuring 11 policemen and passers-by, Russian media reported.

05/25/2013 -  Pakistan school bus explosion and blaze kill 17 children: media - 04:53 AM

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Seventeen Pakistani children burnt to death on Saturday when a gas cylinder on the bus taking them to school exploded, media said.

05/25/2013 -  Japan government says unaware of ghosts at PM residence: paper - 04:22 AM

TOKYO (Reuters) - A delay in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife moving into their official residence, the site of past assassinations, has revived talk of ghosts in the corridors, prompting the government to deny any knowledge of hauntings.

05/25/2013 -  EU steps up quest to solve youth unemployment - 04:13 AM

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European leaders have decided youth unemployment and the risk of social breakdown are among the toughest challenges they face and finding solutions will be a top priority for the coming months.