Doubts deepen over Chinese-backed Nicaragua canal as work starts
MANAGUA (Reuters) – When one of the poorest countries in the Americas and a little-known Chinese businessman said they planned to undertake one of the biggest engineering projects in history, few people took them seriously.
Schaeuble says he is ready to tackle tax ‘bracket creep’ in Germany
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he would be ready to cut income taxes by adjusting thresholds for inflation if the upper house of parliament agrees to scrap a practice that generates billions of euros in annual revenu…
Sudan defends decision to expel two United Nations officials
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan defended on Friday its decision to expel two senior UNDP officials and urged the world body to respect Sudanese sovereignty, worsening tensions with the United Nations.
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)
