Some 1,250 migrants rescued in Mediterranean over Christmas
ROME (Reuters) – Nearly 1,250 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean over the Christmas period and five bodies have been recovered, Italian officials said on Friday.
Former Belgian premier Leo Tindemans dies at 92
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Former Belgian Prime Minister Leo Tindemans, whose record support in European elections earned him the nickname “Mr. Europe”, died on Friday at the age of 92.
Erdogan tells Europe to stop criticizing Turkey
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan slammed European countries on Friday for criticizing deteriorating press freedom in Turkey and said they should instead try to find a solution for what he said was increasing Islamophobia in the con…
Iran expands ‘smart’ Internet censorship
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran is to expand what it calls “smart filtering” of the Internet, a policy of censoring undesirable content on websites without banning them completely, as it used to, the government said on Friday.
Russia’s new military doctrine names NATO as key risk
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new military doctrine, naming NATO expansion among key external risks, the Kremlin said on Friday, days after Ukraine made fresh steps to join the Atlantic military alliance.
Asia remembers devastating 2004 tsunami with tears and prayers
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) – Survivors of Asia’s 2004 tsunami and relatives of its 226,000 victims cried and prayed as they gathered along Indian Ocean shorelines on Friday for memorials to mark the 10th anniversary of a disaster that still leaves…
Hundreds of civilians killed in Libya fighting as crisis deepens: U.N.
GENEVA (Reuters) – (This version of the Dec. 23 story removes reference in paragraph five to ambulance after official U.N. correction)
Fire at storage tank at Libya’s Es Sider port has spread to more oil tanks: officials
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – A fire at an oil storage tank at Libya’s Es Sider port has spread to two more tanks after a rocket hit the country’s biggest terminal during clashes between forces allied to competing governments, officials said on Friday.
Lawyer confident of testimony to clear Myanmar duo of Britons’ murders
BANGKOK (Reuters) – A lawyer for two Myanmar nationals indicted over the murder of two British tourists on a Thai holiday island said on Friday he was confident of persuading scared witnesses to testify and exonerate the accused.
China raises Nepal aid five-fold in regional diplomacy push
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – China will increase official aid to Nepal by more than five times from fiscal 2015-16, officials said on Friday, to develop infrastructure in the landlocked nation where regional rival India has long wielded political influence.
