White House says Iran policy unchanged; declines comment on letter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. policy toward Iran has not changed, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in response to a report that U.S. President Barack Obama had written a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei about the campaign against Islamic State insurgents.
Jerusalem tension leaves Jordan more exposed to Mideast turmoil
AMMAN (Reuters) – As Jordan joins a military campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria, tensions in Jerusalem pose a potentially bigger risk to a nation only slightly scathed by the turmoil sweeping the Middle East.
One Azeri worker dies, one missing in offshore platform accident
BAKU (Reuters) – One worker was killed and another was missing after an accident at an offshore oil and gas platform in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan, Azeri state energy company SOCAR said on Thursday.
Tanzania probes alleged ivory smuggling during Chinese state visit
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania is studying a report alleging that Chinese officials bought large amounts of illegal ivory during a visit by President Xi Jinping last year and smuggled it out in diplomatic bags aboard his plane, a Tanzanian governme…
Kremlin says U.S. probe of Putin ally is attack on president
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin accused the United States on Thursday of firing a broadside against President Vladimir Putin by opening a money-laundering investigation into a member of his inner circle.
Zimbabwe opposition calls on parliament to expel renegade MPs
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Thursday asked parliament to expel 18 rebel MPs on the grounds they no longer belonged to the party.
Serbian inmates say lawyers’ strike keeping them in jail
BELGRADE (Reuters) – Dozens of prison inmates in Serbia appealed to the country’s top human rights official on Thursday, saying they faced spending more time behind bars than necessary due to an almost two-month-old strike by lawyers.
Beyond Burkina Faso, Africa’s ‘Black Spring’ hopes may be premature
DAKAR (Reuters) – Inspired by protests in Burkina Faso that ousted one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, opposition activists across much of the continent are hoping for a “Black Spring” to mirror the Arab Spring. The experience of Clement Mierassa …
U.S. launches fresh strikes on Khorasan group in Syria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States said it conducted air strikes on Wednesday night against the so-called Khorasan group of al Qaeda-linked militants based in Syria, saying the group was plotting to attack Europe or the United States.
Miliband dismisses reports of bid to oust him
LONDON (Reuters) – Ed Miliband, the leader of Britain’s center-left opposition Labour party, on Thursday described media reports that members of his own party were conspiring to oust him as “nonsense”, as he sought to keep his bid to become prime minis…
