Strict sharia forces gays into hiding in Indonesia’s Aceh
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia/JAKARTA (Reuters) – Overwhelmed by fear, members of the main gay rights group in the Indonesian town of Banda Aceh started burning piles of documents outside their headquarters in late October, worried that the sharia police would…
Greek PM urges lawmakers to avoid snap election
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warned lawmakers on Saturday against the snap election that will be called if he loses a key presidential vote in parliament next week, but said he was confident of winning if Greeks did go to the…
North Korea blames U.S. for Internet outages, calls Obama ‘monkey’
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea called U.S. President Barack Obama a “monkey” and blamed Washington on Saturday for Internet outages it has experienced during a confrontation with the United States over the hacking of the film studio Sony Pictures.
Man from Ahmadi religious minority killed in Pakistan after Muslim leader calls them ‘enemy’
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Gunmen in eastern Pakistan shot dead a member of the Ahmadi religious minority on Saturday, an Ahmadi spokesman said, five days after a Muslim leader denounced Ahmadis on a popular Pakistani television talk show.
Man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II puts roses on his tomb
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The man who tried to kill former Pope John Paul II 33 years ago showed up at the Vatican on Saturday to put white roses on his tomb and said he wanted to meet Pope Francis.
Syria ready to discuss Russia peace plan talks, opposition dismissive
BEIRUT/CAIRO (Reuters) – Syria said on Saturday it was willing to participate in “preliminary consultations” in Moscow aimed at restarting talks next year to end its civil war but the Western-backed opposition dismissed the initiative.
Swedish centre-left do eight-year deal with opposition to avert snap election
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s three-month-old minority centre-left government announced a deal with the opposition on Saturday to sideline the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who hold the balance of power in parliament, and avert a fresh election.
Somali Islamist with $3 million U.S. bounty on head surrenders – government source
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A leader of Somali Islamist group al Shabaab, who has a $3 million U.S. bounty on his head, has surrendered, a Somali government source and local media said on Saturday.
Two dead in Turkey’s southeast as Islamists, Kurds clash
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – Two people died and three others were wounded on Saturday in clashes between Islamists and Kurdish youths in Turkey’s southeastern town of Cizre, the government said.
Libya asks Italy to help extinguish fire at biggest oil port
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libya has called on Italy to send firefighters to prevent a fire spreading out of control at Es Sider, the country’s biggest oil port, officials said on Saturday.
