Friend turned foe – the challenger for Sri Lanka’s presidency
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Over a dinner of rice-flour pancakes with his trusted health minister one evening in November, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa observed with a grin that there would be no serious candidate to challenge him in the coming presi…
Afghan president says U.S. might want to ‘re-examine’ pullout deadline
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the United States might want to “re-examine” the timetable for removing the remaining U.S.-led coalition troops in the country by the end of 2016.
Venezuela’s Maduro would free Lopez if U.S. freed Puerto Rican
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday he would only seek the release of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez if the United States agreed to release a Puerto Rican nationalist currently held in a U.S. prison.
Safety overhaul puts strain on Bangladesh garment industry
DHAKA (Reuters) – Undaunted by a run of horrific factory accidents that have hit Bangladesh’s garments industry, two entrepreneurs bought Adorn Knitwear Ltd earlier this year.
Venezuela’s Maduro to visit China, OPEC nations amid cash crunch
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday he will visit China and several unspecified OPEC countries during a week-long tour meant to improve the South American nation’s finances, which have been weakened by tumbling crude …
Italy puts a break on new tax bill after Berlusconi-related uproar
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s government halted an overhaul of tax laws on Sunday after a controversy erupted over whether the proposed measures might annul the 2012 tax fraud conviction of former leader Silvio Berlusconi.
Islamist group seizes Damascus suburb from rivals: monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamist fighters seized a suburb east of Damascus on Sunday after driving out a smaller rival insurgent group in deadly clashes, a monitoring group said, the latest example of rebel infighting in Syria’s nearly four-year conflict.
Abbas seeks to re-submit statehood bid to U.N. Security Council
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday he was discussing with Jordan plans to resubmit to the United Nations Security Council a resolution calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state that failed to w…
Car bomb targeting Somali security forces kills four civilians
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A car bomb targeting security officials killed four civilians in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday, a government official said.
Captured Greek guerrilla was preparing to attack prison: police
ATHENS (Reuters) – Fugitive Marxist guerrilla Christodoulos Xiros was preparing an armed assault on one of Athens’ main prisons when he was recaptured on Saturday near the capital, police said on Sunday.
