Vatican report on U.S. nuns is conciliatory, stresses teachings
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A keenly-awaited Vatican report on Roman Catholic nuns in the United States struck a conciliatory tone on Tuesday, praising them for their social and educational work but urging them to stick to Church teachings.
Romanian PM gives up doctorate after years of plagiarism allegations
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has handed back his doctorate, he said on Tuesday, two years after he was first accused of plagiarizing chunks of his law thesis.
Ukraine’s Poroshenko hails first full overnight truce in rebel east
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s separatist east passed the night into Tuesday without any shooting, President Petro Poroshenko said, hailing the first such stretch of calm as a positive signal for the next steps in a peace plan.
Turkey’s main opposition to challenge new police powers in top court
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s main opposition party said on Tuesday will launch a legal challenge against a government-sponsored law expanding police search powers, saying it violates the rights of individuals.
Police storm Sydney cafe to end hostage siege, three dead
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning and freed terrified hostages held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which two captives and the attacker were killed.
Afghan army halts transport for soldiers after wave of bus bombs
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s army has stopped taking soldiers to and from work in the capital, deeming it too dangerous after a string of bomb attacks on buses carrying soldiers killed more than a dozen of them, an official said on Tuesday.
Ten Bosnian Serb wartime security officials arrested for war crimes
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Ten Bosnian Serb wartime officials were arrested on Tuesday over the killing of close to 70 Muslim Bosniak civilians and persecution of many more, including women and children, early in the former Yugoslav republic’s 1992-95 war.
France tries to rally mistrustful African states against Boko Haram
DAKAR (Reuters) – France will step in to help coordinate a regional taskforce against Nigeria’s Islamist group Boko Haram, amid signs of mistrust among West African neighbors, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday.
Court orders autopsy on German lawmaker who criticized Russia
BERLIN (Reuters) – A German court has ordered an autopsy on a conservative member of parliament who was a prominent critic of Russia’s Vladimir Putin in order to rule out any link between his death and his hardline stance toward the Kremlin, state pros…
Turkish soccer fans go on trial accused of coup attempt
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Thirty-five Turkish soccer fans went on trial on Tuesday accused of attempting to stage a coup during mass protests last year, in a case the opposition and rights groups say is an abuse of the justice system by a government bent on…