Roadside bomb kills two Yemeni soldiers
SANAA, Yemen – Security officials say two Yemeni soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in a restive province where high-level intelligence officers have been assassinated in the past.
They say four soldiers were also injured in the Saturday attack, which took place in the city of Shar in the southeastern Hadramawt province and was likely carried out by al-Qaida.
John Kerry travels to sub-Saharan Africa
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Making his first official trip to sub-Saharan Africa, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday demanded that Nigeria respect human rights as it cracks down on Islamist extremists and pledged to work hard in the coming months to ease tensions between Sudan and South Sudan.
Kerry, attending the African Union’s 50th anniversary, backed the Nigerian government’s efforts to root out Boko Haram, an al-Qaida-linked radical sect. But he said there is no excuse for abuses by armed forces in Nigeria’s long-neglected north, where President Goodluck Jonathan has declared emergency rule.
Military chief commits to Syrian victory
BEIRUT – The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group vowed to help propel President Bashar Assad to victory in Syria’s bloody civil war, warning that the fall of the Damascus regime would give rise to extremists and plunge the Middle East into a “dark period.”
In a televised address, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah also said Hezbollah members are fighting in Syria against Islamic radicals who pose a danger to Lebanon, and pledged that his group will not allow Syrian militants to control areas along the Lebanese border. He pledged that Hezbollah will turn the tide of the conflict in Assad’s favor, and stay as long as necessary to do so.
Egypt top court rules against religious slogans
CAIRO – Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court ruled on Saturday against parts of an election law approved by the Islamist-led legislature that had lifted a long-standing ban on the use of religious slogans during campaigning.
The decision is the latest sign of tensions between the judiciary and President Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist allies. The courts have dealt Islamists several setbacks during the last two years, including the dissolution of parliament’s lower house last year. That ruling was also issued by the Supreme Constitutional Court, which had judged the law governing its election invalid.
Herald Staff
