Former Ivory Coast president backs Ouattara for 2015 election
DAOUKRO Ivory Coast (Reuters) – Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara on Wednesday received the endorsement of former president Henri Konan Bedie for re-election in 2015, boosting his chances of a second term.
Spain to replace Dutch in Turkey Patriot missile deployment
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain will send a Patriot anti-ballistic missile battery to Turkey’s southern border with Syria as part of a NATO initiative, Defense Minister Pedro Morenes said on Wednesday, replacing the Netherlands’ contribution to the deployment…
U.N. Security Council to discuss Dutch report on MH17 downing
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over war-torn eastern Ukraine will be discussed by the U.N. Security Council on Friday after Russia requested a meeting on a Dutch finding that a large number of fragments hit the …
Austrian court unfreeze ex-U.S. diplomat’s family assets
VIENNA (Reuters) – An Austrian court has unblocked assets owned by the wife of former U.S. diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad, ruling that Vienna prosecutors overstepped their authority by having her bank accounts frozen, the couple and their lawyers said.
War may make hundreds of thousands of young Syrians stateless
THE HAGUE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Hundreds of thousands of exiled Syrian children may become stateless because of the fighting in their country, putting them at risk of exploitation and potentially hindering their return home, a senior U.N. offi…
Germany to toughen penalties against child porn
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany is seeking to widen its definition of child pornography and jail people for up to three years for owning or trading photographs of naked children that are considered pornographic, according to a new draft law.
Libyan PM seeks to reassert authority as oil production is hit
BENGHAZI Libya (Reuters) – Libya’s acting prime minister sought to reassert authority over his turbulent country by naming a new cabinet on Wednesday, but some lawmakers threatened to veto his choices and a rival assembly continued to hold sway in the …
Lithuania to vet more investments for national security risks
VILNIUS (Reuters) – Lithuania’s president Dalia Grybauskaite proposed on Wednesday that investments in strategically important sectors of the economy should be vetted by the government to ensure they do not pose a threat to national security.
Brazil’s Silva hits back at rumors, recalls hungry youth
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – In an emotional new television ad, Brazilian presidential candidate Marina Silva hit back at rumors that she would do away with popular social welfare programs if elected, citing her own youth growing up poor and hungry in the Ama…
Exclusive: Iraqi Kurdistan oil heads to Asia, in talks with China
LONDON (Reuters) – At least 3 million barrels of Iraqi Kurdish oil are on ships heading to Asia, with trade sources naming China as a possible destination as the autonomous region expands efforts to establish independent oil sales in defiance of Baghda…
