As storm hits Mideast, refugees bear brunt
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A storm buffeted the Middle East with blizzards, rain and strong winds on Wednesday, keeping people at home across much of the region and raising concerns for Syrian refugees facing freezing temperatures in flimsy shelters.
Pre-election lead for Greece’s Syriza narrowing: polls
ATHENS (Reuters) – The lead held by Greek opposition party Syriza over the ruling conservatives has narrowed, according to three polls conducted after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras called a snap parliamentary election for Jan. 25.
Merkel gives little ground to Cameron over EU reform on visit
LONDON (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she would help Prime Minister David Cameron tackle abuses of Britain’s welfare system by EU migrants but insisted the bloc’s principle of freedom of movement should not be touched.
Car bomb kills 35 people outside Yemen police college
SANAA (Reuters) – A car bomb exploded outside a police college in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Wednesday, killing 35 people and wounding dozens in an attack authorities blamed on Al Qaeda militants.
U.S. denies Cuba resisting release of several prisoners on list
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A White House official on Wednesday denied that the Cuban government was resisting freeing some of the 53 people listed for release as part of a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations on the grounds they had been linked to violence.
U.S.-led air strikes have hit 3,222 Islamic State targets: Pentagon
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria have damaged or destroyed 3,222 targets since August, including 58 tanks, 184 Humvees, 673 fighting positions and 980 buildings or barracks, the Pentagon said…
U.S. says Palestine not qualify to be part of ICC: State Department
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States does not believe Palestine is a sovereign state and therefore does not qualify to be part of the International Criminal Court, the State Department said on Wednesday.
FBI questions U.S.-based Gambian civil society leader over coup plot
DAKAR/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Gambian civil society leader based in the United States said on Wednesday he had been questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation over a failed coup plot allegedly planned on U.S. soil.
Merkel says wants Greece to stay in euro zone
LONDON (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to London on Wednesday that Greece had respected its financial commitments to its European partners in recent years and she expected this to continue, dismissing suggestions of a po…
Aid agencies rule out ‘preferred option’ of moving storm-hit Syrian refugees
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Aid agencies dismissed on Wednesday the idea of relocating hundreds of thousands of storm-hit Syrian refugees across the Middle East, citing the large number of refugees, a shortage of funding and a lack of authori…
