Rights groups decry sentencing of leading Azeri activist
MOSCOW (Reuters) – New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) decried as politically motivated the sentencing of a leading rights activist in Azerbaijan on Thursday to 8-1/2 years in jail, saying it was part of a campaign to muzzle dissent.
Artist Ai Weiwei says China at ‘critical point’
BERLIN (Reuters) – Ructions in the Chinese stock market and currency suggest the country has reached a “critical point” where the absence of democratic freedoms is a growing threat to economic stability, Chinese artist and free-speech advocate Ai Weiwe…
North Korea will pursue ‘defensive’ nuclear program: envoy
GENEVA (Reuters) – North Korea will pursue its “defensive” nuclear program as long as it feels threatened by the United States, its U.N. disarmament envoy in Geneva told Reuters on Thursday.
Bangladesh says arrests two Islamists over killing of secularist blogger
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh police said on Thursday they had arrested two members of a banned Islamist group for alleged involvement in the killing of a blogger, the latest attack on critics of religious extremism in the Muslim-majority nation.
Floods force Argentine front-runner Scioli to cut short foreign trip
LUJAN, Argentina (Reuters) – Argentine ruling party presidential candidate Daniel Scioli cut short a trip to Italy for work on his prosthetic arm amid mounting criticism from rivals and voters over his handling of flooding that has forced thousands fro…
Kerry voices concern to Russian counterpart on Ukraine fighting
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday expressed “gave concern” to his Russian counterpart about a sharp rise in separatist attacks in eastern Ukraine and urged an immediate cease-fire, the State Department said.
German historians dispute museum’s much higher Berlin Wall death toll
BERLIN (Reuters) – Several German historians on Thursday rejected the findings of a museum which said hundreds more people died trying to flee to West Berlin during the Cold War than previously thought, re-igniting a row rumbling on since the wall fell…
Greek island bears brunt as people-smugglers take Turkish route
KOS, Greece (Reuters) – Michel Allatuain waited beneath the 14th century fortress at the port of this Greek island on Thursday, desperate for a ferry ticket to the European mainland and a better life.
Venezuela ex-general Baduel, former Chavez ally, granted parole
CARACAS (Reuters) – A Venezuelan military court granted parole to former general Raul Baduel, who was key in the rescue of Hugo Chavez from a coup in 2002 but later broke ranks with the late leader’s socialist government, his lawyer said.
Egypt police colonel gets five years jail at re-trial over deaths of 37 prisoners
CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian police colonel was sentenced to a reduced five years in jail on Thursday in a re-trial over the deaths of 37 Islamist prisoners being transported to jail in an overcrowded van, lawyers and judicial sources said.
