Gunmen planned to blow up plane in Pakistan by hitting fuel tank
PESHAWAR Pakistan (Reuters) – Holed up deep inside a Taliban-friendly neighborhood, gunmen waited patiently for the passenger plane to approach the airport before raising their guns into the night sky and unleashing a hail of bullets to shoot it down.
Tunisia to hold parliamentary, presidential elections in October and November
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s parliament on Wednesday agreed to hold parliamentary elections on Oct. 26 and a presidential poll a month later, another step towards full democracy in the country that toppled its autocrat ruler in 2011.
Mali urges aggressive overhaul of U.N. peacekeeping mission
MALABO (Reuters) – Mali called on the United Nations to speed up deploying the remainder of its promised 12,000-member peacekeeping force and station more troops in the West African nation’s turbulent north.
NATO will not offer Georgia membership step, avoiding Russia clash
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO will stop short of approving a formal step to membership for Georgia at its summit in September, officials said on Wednesday, dodging a possible confrontation with Moscow over the alliance’s expansion to Russia’s neighbours.
String of small morning explosions in Cairo hurt eight
CAIRO (Reuters) – Eight people were hurt in northern Cairo when homemade explosive devices blew up at four metro stations and a courthouse on Wednesday morning in the first attacks in Cairo since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi became president earlier this month…
UK’s Cameron apologizes to parliament over ex-media chief found guilty of phone-hacking
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday apologized to parliament for hiring Andy Coulson, his ex-media chief, after Coulson was found guilty of being part of a phone-hacking conspiracy.
Taliban battle Afghan forces for control of southern district
LASHKAR GAH Afghanistan (Reuters) – Taliban militants have been locked in fighting with Afghan forces this week to wrest control of a southern district, provincial authorities said on Wednesday, in a struggle that has killed or wounded dozens of people…
Russian lawmakers revoke right to send troops into Ukraine
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian parliament’s upper chamber voted on Wednesday to revoke the right that it had granted President Vladimir Putin in March to order a military intervention in Ukraine, where Kiev is struggling to quell a rebellion by Russian…
Romanian parliament asks president to quit as brother probed over bribe
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s parliament asked President Traian Basescu to step down on Wednesday after his businessman brother was detained for allegedly taking a bribe to help shorten an underworld boss’s jail sentence.
Spain’s Princess Cristina faces trial on corruption charges
MADRID (Reuters) – A Spanish court on Wednesday upheld corruption charges against Cristina de Borbon, sister of newly-crowned King Felipe VI, and her husband in one of the last steps before a trial that could cloud the monarchy’s bid to rebuild its rep…
