Vatican leaks scandal widens as authors investigated, others suspected
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A leaks scandal rocking the papacy widened on Wednesday as the Vatican put two Italian journalists under investigation and said it suspected other Holy See officials had helped two arrested for stealing documents.
Montreal begins controversial sewage dump into St. Lawrence River
MONTREAL (Reuters) – Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city, began dumping untreated sewage into the St. Lawrence River on Wednesday, angering environmentalists with a repair operation that could release as much as 8 billion liters (2.1 billion gallons…
Assad’s opponents dismiss Russian ideas for solving Syria crisis
BEIRUT/DUBAI (Reuters) – Syrian opposition figures and Gulf commentators dismissed on Wednesday a Russian draft proposal for a process to solve the Syrian crisis, saying Moscow’s aim was to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power and marginalize dissen…
EU moves ahead with labeling goods made in Israeli settlements
BRUSSELS/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The European Union published new guidelines on Wednesday for labeling products made in Israeli settlements, a move Brussels said was technical but Israel branded “discriminatory” and damaging to peace efforts with the Pal…
Troops could be sent to Burundi if violence worsens: diplomats
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Key Western powers and the United Nations are discussing the possible deployment of international peacekeepers to Burundi if the violence in the African country spirals into a full-scale ethnic conflict, diplomats said on Wed…
Jordanian killer was on a journey to ‘paradise or hell’
AMMAN (Reuters) – Days before he shot dead five people in a canteen during his lunch break, Jordanian police officer Anwar Abu Zeid sent a message to friends saying he was going on a journey to “paradise or hell”, friends and security sources said.
McCain calls on Pentagon to clarify South China Sea patrol
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chairman of the influential U.S. Senate Armed Services committee has called on the Pentagon to clarify publicly the legal intent of a U.S. patrol last month within 12 nautical miles of an island China has built in the South C…
Spanish court to hear government appeal vs Catalan secession move: media
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Constitutional Court has agreed to hear the government’s appeal against Catalonia’s declaration of intent to start building a separate republic, suspending any secession process in legal terms, Spanish media reported on Wedne…
Ex-head of Italy’s famed Montecassino abbey in fraud investigation
ROME (Reuters) – The former head of the world famous Roman Catholic Benedictine abbey of Montecassino, which was destroyed in World War Two and rebuilt, is under investigation on suspicion of embezzlement, police said on Wednesday.
Russian sports minister Mutko pledges new anti-doping action
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko on Wednesday pledged his country would adopt new measures to clamp down on doping including devising new testing methods and possibly opening criminal cases against athletes suspected of ch…
