Brazilian leader’s rivals close gap ahead of October vote
BRASILIA (Reuters) – President Dilma Rousseff’s main rivals have cut her lead ahead of Brazil’s elections in October, though she is still favored to win re-election if the race goes to a second round, according to a poll published on Thursday.
Pakistan army starts North Waziristan ground offensive
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani forces on Thursday launched their first major offensive in years against Taliban militants near the Afghan border after several rounds of government-led talks aimed at ending an insurgency in the remote region failed.
Libyan government warns of new militia threat in capital
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s government accused parliament on Thursday of putting security in the capital at risk by summoning a militia from the west of the country to protect the assembly.
Gas explosion in Russia injures five, including U.S. diplomat
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A gas explosion in an apartment building in western Moscow injured five people on Thursday, including a U.S. diplomat, the Interfax news agency reported.
Guatemala extradites accused drug trafficker to U.S
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Guatemala on Thursday extradited one of the country’s top suspected drug traffickers to the United States, more than two years after a court had ordered the move.
Thirty-two killed in three attacks on Shi’ite pilgrims in Baghdad
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Thirty-two people were killed in three attacks on Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims walking in Baghdad on Thursday evening ahead of a major religious holiday, police and medical sources said.
Workers flee to safe houses on South Africa’s strike-hit platinum belt
RUSTENBURG, South Africa (Reuters) – The chanting began around midnight, a chilling message through the cold of the early South African winter to those who had dared to cross the picket lines at platinum producer Lonmin.
Ukraine forces, pro-Russian rebels clash as election looms
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine said on Thursday its forces had rebuffed overnight attacks by armed pro-Russian separatists on an army checkpoint and a border crossing and called for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council to discuss Moscow’s role i…
U.S. steps up scrutiny of Americans fighting in Syrian civil war
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Justice Department has tapped a veteran prosecutor to probe the flow of foreign fighters including Americans who are joining Syria’s rebels, U.S. officials said, in a sign of heightened alarm over the threat of radicalized mi…
Germany’s Merkel urges Turkish PM to show restraint in German speech
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a newspaper interview, called on Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to be restrained in a speech he is due to deliver in Cologne to almost 20,000 Turkish supporters on Saturday.
