Syrian opposition coordinator says U.S. clearly backtracked over Syria
PARIS (Reuters) – The United States has softened its stance on Syria including the future of President Bashar al-Assad to accommodate Russia, opposition coordinator Riad Hijab said, warning the opposition would face a hard choice on whether to attend p…
Germany to speed up deportations after Cologne attacks
BERLIN (Reuters) – German ministers outlined plans on Tuesday to speed up the deportation of foreigners who commit crimes, responding to sexual attacks on women by migrants in Cologne which have deepened doubts about the country’s open-door refugee pol…
Famous Indian temple defends ban on woman under court scrutiny
MUMBAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Government authorities and temple officials in India’s southern Kerala state are standing firmly by a decades-old tradition of banning women from one of the holiest Hindu temples after the nation’s top court questi…
European rights body says worried by opposition crackdown in Georgia
TBILISI (Reuters) – The Council of Europe told Georgia on Tuesday to improve its justice system, saying it was worried by allegations the authorities were abusing the law to conduct a politically-motivated crackdown on the opposition.
Israeli soldiers kill three Palestinians in West Bank
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday including one the military said had tried to stab a soldier, as four months of tensions simmered.
Hungary top court jails serial killers of Roma for life
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Three serial killers who targeted members of Hungary’s Roma minority in 2008 and 2009 were jailed for life on Tuesday, the state news agency MTI reported on Tuesday.
Pakistani paramilitary force raids home of New York Times reporter
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A Pakistani paramilitary force raided the home of the New York Times’ national correspondent on Tuesday in what officials called a routine search operation for a terrorism suspect.
China detains Swedish national who worked on legal aid
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese authorities have detained a Swedish national who worked on legal aid and rule of law issues, on suspicion of endangering state security, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
India urged to ban FGM as women break silence on secret ritual
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A group of Indian women who were subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) as children are calling on the government to ban the ancient ritual, describing it as child abuse.
Austria to take tougher action to turn away economic migrants
VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria will take tougher action to turn away economic migrants in order to reduce overall immigration as it sees little help from other European countries in stemming the flow of migrants arriving at its border, ministers said on Tu…
