CNN – Europe/Mideast/Africa

By Matthew Chance, Zahra Ullah and Katharina Krebs, CNN Ukrainian opposition politicians are demanding an immediate investigation into how a special operation to lure alleged Russian war criminals failed after Belarus arrested the men in Minsk last year. The new calls follow an exclusive CNN investigation in which former high-ranking Ukrainian military intelligence officials described

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at the life of award-winning screen legend Sophia Loren. Personal Birth date: September 20, 1934 Birth place: Rome, Italy (grew up in Pozzuoli, outside of Naples) Birth name: Sofia Villani Scicolone Father: Riccardo Scicolone Mother: Romilda Villani Marriages: Carlo Ponti (April 9, 1966-January 10, 2007, his death; September 17,

By Anna Chernova, CNN A veteran Russian politician has complained that two opponents running against him in St. Petersburg have adopted his name and mimicked his appearance in order to confuse voters. Liberal Yabloko party candidate Boris Vishnevsky is standing to keep his seat in the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly later this month. The Russian

By Anna Chernova, CNN Russian Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev has died in an accident during training exercises in the Arctic, Russian state media RIA Novosti reported Wednesday, citing the ministry. Zinichev, aged 55, was trying to save someone’s life when the incident in the Russian city of Norilsk occurred. “The Russian Emergencies Ministry informs with

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group working out of Nigeria, whose purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law. Facts In the local Hausa dialect, Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden.” The group also refers to itself as Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, meaning “People Committed to

EXCLUSIVE by Matthew Chance and Zahra Ullah, CNN Security forces shattered the early morning calm of the lakeside Soviet-era resort outside the Belarusian capital of Minsk, bursting in to arrest 32 Russian mercenaries. It was less than two weeks before Belarus’ presidential election last year, and authorities suspected that the outsiders had been sent from

By Nimi Princewill, CNN Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has been named patron of Nigeria’s first sexual assault referral center in Lagos, the country’s largest city. The Duchess, 74, has long campaigned against domestic abuse and sexual violence and said she is “delighted to become Patron of the Mirabel Center in Lagos,” which was founded in

By Angela Dewan, International Climate Editor Europe experienced its hottest summer on record this year and temperatures in the Mediterranean smashed records by large margins, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said Tuesday. Like much of the Northern Hemisphere, Europe was battered by extreme weather events over recent months, including record levels of rain

By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN ​​”Abiy, Abiy,” the crowd chanted, waving Ethiopia’s tricolor flag and cheering as the country’s new prime minister, dressed in a white blazer with gold trim and smiling broadly, waved to a packed basketball arena at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, part of a whirlwind three-city tour of the

By Eliza Mackintosh and Katharina Krebs, CNN A Belarusian court on Monday sentenced Maria Kolesnikova, a prominent opposition figure who led mass street protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, to 11 years in prison, the latest move in a widespread crackdown on government critics following a contested election last year. Kolesnikova and another opposition activist, Maxim

By Abeer Salman, Amir Tal and Ibrahim Dahman, CNN Israeli authorities are hunting for six Palestinian militants who broke out of prison, apparently through a tunnel, sometime early Monday morning. The men escaped from Gilboa prison, which lies between the Sea of Galilee in Israel and the West Bank town of Jenin. A picture of

By Zixu Wang and Sophie Jeong, CNN The German Ambassador to China, Jan Hecker, has died suddenly at 54, after only a few weeks in his position, according to a statement posted on the German Embassy to China’s website on Monday. Hecker had worked as a foreign policy adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel before

By David McKenzie, CNN Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been released from prison on medical parole due to ill health, the government’s correctional services department said Sunday. Zuma, 79, has been serving a 15-month prison sentence since July for contempt of court after defying a summons to appear at an inquiry into corruption

By Umaro Djau, Kareem Khadder and David McKenzie, CNN A Guinean military officer broadcast a statement Sunday announcing that Guinea’s Constitution has been dissolved in an apparent coup. “We will no longer entrust politics to a man. We will entrust it to the people. We come only for that; it is the duty of a

By Nima Elbagir, Katie Polglase, Barbara Arvanitidis, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Laura Smith-Spark Video by Alex Platt and Mark Baron The ghostly outlines of limbs emerge through the mist along the Setit River in eastern Sudan. As the river’s path narrows, the drifting bodies become wedged on the silty clay bank and their forms appear more clearly;

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at what you need to know about the Camp David Accords. On September 17, 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and US President Jimmy Carter signed the Camp David Accords in Washington. The Details of the Camp David Accords Called for a formal peace treaty

CNN Editorial Research Here is a look at Sunni extremist group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Facts The Yemeni-based arm of al Qaeda, AQAP, emerged when al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and Yemen unified in 2009. Many analysts believe AQAP is the most dangerous al Qaeda affiliate. AQAP’s main goals include establishing a