Venezuela protests not over, vows hardline Maduro foe
CARACAS (Reuters) – A wave of protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government in Venezuela will not let up and foreign sanctions could be useful, a hardline opposition leader said on Friday.
U.S., European allies express concern over Libya violence
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and European allies on Friday expressed deep concern over mounting violence in Libya and warned that the country stood “at a crossroads” between pursuing a peaceful political transition or facing chaos, fragment…
Merkel speaks out for U.S.-EU trade agreement
DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel tried on Friday to allay German fears about a proposed U.S.-EU trade pact, telling a group of business leaders that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could stimulate grow…
Islamist militant leader in Egypt’s Sinai killed: security sources
CAIRO (Reuters) – A militant Islamist leader in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula was shot dead on Friday by unknown assailants, security sources said, a few days before Egyptians vote for a new president.
Putin signals he will work with Ukraine leader, but blasts U.S.
ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin appeared to hold out an olive branch on Friday by suggesting he will work with whomever is elected Ukraine’s next president and calling for better ties with the West.
Italy struggles to turn page on corruption
MILAN, Italy (Reuters) – They usually met in Milan although on Wednesdays they lunched in Rome. But for the seven men arrested on suspicion of corruption, the menu was always the same, prosecutors said: alleged bribes to obtain building contracts for I…
Kerry agrees to testify to U.S. House committee on Benghazi: letter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Secretary of State John Kerry has agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee on its investigation into the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, according to a State Department letter obtaine…
Bolivian anti-graft cop sent to prison in U.S. extortion case
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Reuters) – A former senior Bolivian anti-corruption official convicted of trying to extort $30,000 from a Bolivian businessman in Miami was sentenced on Friday to more than three years in a U.S. federal prison.
Iran cuts nuclear stockpile, engages with bomb probe: IAEA
VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran has sharply cut its most sensitive nuclear stockpile under an interim pact with world powers and has begun engaging with a long-stalled IAEA investigation into suspected weapons research, the U.N. nuclear agency said on Friday.
U.N. watchdog urges Vatican to pursue sex criminals
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations watchdog on torture urged the Vatican on Friday to cooperate with civil authorities in prosecuting all cases of suspected sexual abuse by pedophile priests and to set up its own individual complaints mechanism.
