Austria falls out with mighty neighbor Germany in refugee crisis
VIENNA (Reuters) – In September, the leaders of Austria and Germany took one of the most pivotal decisions of Europe’s refugee crisis, throwing open their borders to tens of thousands of migrants piling up in Hungary.
Saudi Arabia blacklists four firms, three Lebanese men over Hezbollah ties
DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia said on Friday it had blacklisted four companies and three Lebanese men for having links to Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of Riyadh’s arch regional adversary Iran.
Putin to spy service: Defend Russian elections from foreign foes
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he had seen specific intelligence suggesting Russia’s foreign enemies were preparing for parliamentary elections later this year and ordered the security service to head off any external interf…
Gunmen wound Georgian opposition leader Petriashvili: ministry
TBILISI (Reuters) – Gunmen shot and wounded Alexy Petriashvili, a former state minister who is a leader of Georgia’s Free Democrats opposition party, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.
Canadian teacher re-arrested on sex abuse charge to return to Jakarta prison
JAKARTA (Reuters) – A Canadian teacher is expected to return to a Jakarta prison on Friday, a family member said, a day after Indonesia’s Supreme Court overturned his acquittal on charges of sexually abusing kindergarten children at an international sc…
Swiss told to wait till after UK referendum for EU migration deal
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Switzerland can expect no progress in talks with the European Union over migrant caps until after Britain’s referendum on EU membership in June despite its urgent need for a deal, a senior Swiss official said on Friday.
Malaysia’s ruling party suspends deputy chief over criticism of PM
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s ruling party on Friday voted to suspend its deputy president, months after he was sacked from his job of deputy prime minister for openly questioning Prime Minister Najib Razak over a financial scandal involving a st…
The road to Aleppo: how the West misread Putin over Syria
By Tom Perry, Laila Bassam, Jonathan Landay and Maria Tsvetkova
Powerful Iraq Shi’ite cleric says PM’s position at stake unless he reforms
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi must take decisive action to root out corruption and implement promised reforms or risk losing power, prominent Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr told more than 100,000 supporters in central Baghdad…
Palestinian hunger striker held by Israel ends protest-family
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – A Palestinian journalist accused by Israel of being a Hamas activist and held without charge has agreed to end his three-month long hunger strike, his family and lawyers said on Friday.
