Turkey’s Erdogan seeks strong, but pliant successor as PM
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish president-elect Tayyip Erdogan began the process of picking his successor as prime minister on Monday, a figure he hopes will triumph in next year’s general election and secure his goal of forging a powerful presidency.
Central African rebels reject new PM, refuse to join government
BANGUI (Reuters) – Central African Republic’s northern Seleka rebels said on Monday they would not take part in a national unity government as they were not consulted about the choice of prime minister and said they may rethink last month’s ceasefire d…
East Africa seeks help to stem surge in heroin smuggling: U.N.
NAIROBI (Reuters) – East African states worried by a surge in heroin smuggling via their Indian Ocean ports want to boost intelligence sharing and possibly try suspected traffickers in local courts, an official at the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (OD…
Three Israelis killed by train at Swiss rail crossing
ZURICH (Reuters) – Three Israelis were killed and five others seriously injured when their minibus collided with a train at a railroad crossing in a village in central Switzerland, Swiss police said on Monday.
Sailors rescued after 80 boats capsize in Northern Ireland storm
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Northern Ireland’s coastguard launched a rescue operation on Monday after around 80 small sailing boats capsized during a storm.
Bombed three times, 85-year-old Palestinian is refugee again
GAZA (Reuters) – Palestinian Ibrahim Mohammad al-Toum, 85, sleeps on the floor on a thin mattress in a Gaza schoolroom, displaced for the third time in six years.
Protesters disrupt ‘massacre’ evidence by South Africa’s Ramaphosa
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Protesters chanting “Blood on his hands” briefly halted South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s evidence on Monday at an inquiry into the police shooting of 34 striking mine workers two years ago.
Iranian parliament bans vasectomies in bid to boost birth rate
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s parliament has voted to ban permanent forms of contraception, the state news agency IRNA reported, endorsing the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s call for measures to increase the population.
Rouhani calls Iranian critics of his nuclear policy ‘cowards’
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called critics of his nuclear policy “cowards”, state news agency IRNA reported on Monday, defending his stance to engage in talks with the West.
EU officials seek to limit impact of Russia’s food import ban
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union regulators on Monday began analyzing product-by-product the impact of a Russian ban on EU food imports announced in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
