U.N. rights investigator urges Myanmar to crack down on religious violence
YANGON (Reuters) – A United Nations human rights investigator on Friday urged the Myanmar government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to investigate last week’s mob attack on a mosque and crack down on religious violence.
Germany, Turkey at odds over Incirlik base visits
ANKARA (Reuters) – Germany is pressing Turkey to allow German lawmakers to visit 250 German soldiers stationed at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday, after meeting her Turkish counterpart.
Putin hints Russia will react if Finland joins NATO
NAANTALI, Finland (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin suggested on Friday Russia could move its troops closer to the Finnish-Russian border if Finland joins NATO and called for measures to improve conflict prevention over the Baltic.
Israel to cut Palestinian tax transfers over ‘terrorist payouts’
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel will reduce monthly transfers of tax collected on behalf of the Palestinians in what aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a response to the killing of two Israelis in Palestinian attacks in the occupied W…
In memoirs, ex Pope Benedict says Vatican ‘gay lobby’ tried to wield power: report
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Former Pope Benedict says in his memoirs that no-one pressured him to resign but alleges that a “gay lobby” in the Vatican had tried to influence decisions, a leading Italian newspaper reported on Friday.
Romania seizes record 2.5 tons of Colombian cocaine, 5 held
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romanian police seized 2.5 tons of cocaine worth at least 600 million euros ($667.20 million) hidden in Colombian banana containers that arrived in the Black Sea port of Constanta, the country’s biggest ever drug bust.
Witnessing migrants being rescued at sea
ABOARD THE TOPAZ RESPONDER (Reuters) – The first reports came in at dawn. A growing number of flimsy rubber dinghies, packed with migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, in difficulty in the Mediterranean Sea.
Home-grown radicals a weak spot in Turkey’s fight against Islamic State
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A few months after he started attending meetings of a hardline Islamic community group in a poor Istanbul suburb, 25-year-old Murat Kipcak stopped reading the Koran and going to the mosque.
Pakistan warns of ‘blowback’ from moving too fast against militants
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s top foreign policy official warned on Friday that pushing too fast against all Islamist militants in the country could lead to “blowback” in the form of more terrorist attacks.
Israel should stop settlements, denying Palestinian development: Quartet report
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Israel should stop building settlements, denying Palestinian development and designating land for exclusive Israeli use that Palestinians seek for a future state, the Middle East peace “Quartet” recommended on Friday in a an …
