China foreign ministry defends lighthouse on disputed islands
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry has defended the government’s decision to build lighthouses on disputed islands in the South China Sea, saying they were being built to facilitate navigation.
Pemex refinery accident in Mexico kills two workers, 11 injured
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Two workers died after being overcome by a burst of flames in an accident that also injured 11 at a refinery in northern Mexico, state-run oil company Pemex [PEMX.UL] said on Friday.
Former PM Hariri back in Lebanon for first time in three years
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Former prime minister Saad al-Hariri returned to Lebanon on Friday for the first time in three years, on a visit seen as reasserting a moderate influence over the Sunni community following a deadly incursion by Islamist militants.
WHO declares Ebola an international health emergency
LONDON/LAGOS (Reuters) – The world’s worst outbreak of Ebola that has killed nearly 1,000 people in West Africa represents an international health emergency and could continue spreading for months, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
U.S. bombs Islamic State after Obama call to prevent Iraq ‘genocide’
BAGHDAD/ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) – U.S. warplanes bombed Islamist fighters marching on Iraq’s Kurdish capital on Friday after President Barack Obama said Washington must act to prevent “genocide”.
Ghana seeks talks with IMF to win endorsement for reforms
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ghana’s government is seeking talks with the International Monetary Fund to win endorsement for its own fiscal reform program rather than because it needs a bailout, Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh told Reuters on Friday.
Israel strikes Gaza after militants resume rocket fire
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel launched air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday in response to Palestinian rockets after Egyptian-mediated talks failed to extend a 72-hour truce in a month-old war.
Suspected Qaeda gunmen kidnap and kill 14 Yemeni soldiers: officials
ADEN (Reuters) – Gunmen believed to be al Qaeda militants kidnapped 14 Yemeni soldiers returning home by bus from duty in eastern Yemen on Friday and killed them, local officials and residents said.
U.N. seeks Libya ceasefire talks; protesters oppose Congress
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – A U.N. delegation held talks in Tripoli on Friday to try to broker a ceasefire between armed factions that have turned the Libyan capital and Benghazi into battlegrounds.
Pakistani police, protesters clash in deadly demonstrations in Punjab
LAHORE/MULTAN Pakistan (Reuters) – One man was killed and a police station partly burned as supporters of an anti-government cleric clashed with police in several Pakistani cities on Friday, officials said, before two large anti-government demonstratio…
