AMMAN / Reuters Jordan held local elections on Tuesday in a move officials say will help devolve some powers to larger cities and underdeveloped rural regions but which critics say falls short of promised wider political reform. The countrywide municipal vote – the first since 2013 – is a stated bid by the government to bring wider grassroots democracy that …

ABOARD THE GOLFO AZZURRO / Reuters The Libyan coastguard intercepted a humanitarian rescue ship in the Mediterranean on Tuesday, ordering it to sail to Tripoli or risk being targeted, a Reuters photographer aboard said. It was the latest in a series of incidents in which non-governmental organisations (NGOs), operating on the edge of Libyan waters to rescue migrants trying to …

ANKARA / Reuters Turkey has asked Germany to extradite a theology lecturer suspected of playing a major role in last year’s failed coup, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday. Turkey sent a diplomatic note requesting the extradition of Adil Oksuz, who the government says was the “imam” of air force personnel who last year bombed parliament as part of …