Exclusive: Uruguay presidential candidate would repeal marijuana law
MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) – Uruguay’s leading opposition candidate said on Wednesday he would try to repeal much of the country’s ground-breaking marijuana law, which permits the commercial production and sale of the drug, if he wins Sunday’s presidential e…
Iranian human rights lawyer stages protest over ban from practice
DUBAI (Reuters) – Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh said on Wednesday she would protest outside the Iranian Bar Association offices in Tehran until it reversed a decision to ban her from practicing law for three years.
Congo, U.N. troops fire live rounds amid protest against killings
BENI Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Congolese troops and United Nations peacekeepers fired live rounds to disperse hundreds of people protesting outside a U.N. base in the eastern Congolese town of Beni on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said.
Amid regional turmoil, Israel looks to its firm bond with Jordan
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – If there were a heat map showing instability in the Middle East, the area around most of Israel’s borders would have turned a steadily deeper shade of red over the past few years.
EU okays new executive as Juncker vows to seize ‘Europe’s last chance’
STRASBOURG France (Reuters) – The European Union will have a new executive in place next month led by Jean-Claude Juncker following its approval in a vote by the European Parliament on Wednesday.
Kerry says status quo between Israel, Palestinians ‘unsustainable’
BERLIN (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that current relations between Israel and Palestine were “unsustainable” and that the United States was conscious of the urgency of the situation.
North Korea unexpectedly frees American Jeffrey Fowle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea has freed Jeffrey Fowle, one of three Americans detained by the country, and he is being flown home to his family, Washington said on Tuesday, amid growing international pressure on Pyongyang over its human rights rec…
Russia says Ukraine should find money to pay for gas within a week
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine should be able to find ways of paying for Russian gas supplies within a week, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, suggesting a standoff would end once Moscow received financial guarantees from Kiev.
Somalia’s al Shabaab says stones man to death for rape
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s al Shabaab militants said on Wednesday they had stoned an 18-year-old man to death for raping a woman at gunpoint in one of their strongholds in the southern Lower Shabelle region.
France does the splits on EU economic governance
PARIS (Reuters) – France has long called for a European economic government to harmonise the bloc’s policies, but it is baulking now at that governance being applied to its own fiscal indiscipline.
