Megaupload’s Dotcom, facing legal threat, launches political party
AUCKLAND (Reuters) – Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom holds court while bathing in the pool of a sprawling New Zealand mansion, fist bumping and chatting with some of the 700 guests gathered to celebrate the political party he launched last month to promote …
Afghan woman MP shot, deputy minister kidnapped in Kabul
KABUL (Reuters) – A woman Afghan member of parliament was shot and wounded shortly after several gunmen kidnapped a deputy minister in separate incidents in the capital Kabul, officials said on Wednesday.
Remote, oil-rich Shetland elbows way into Scotland’s independence vote
LERWICK, Shetland Islands (Reuters) – Twelve hours by ferry from the Scottish mainland, hundreds of miles from Edinburgh and closer to Oslo than London, the windswept Shetland islands have their own aspirations about Scottish independence.
Egyptian court jails 119 Mursi supporters
CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian court sentenced 119 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood of former president Mohamed Mursi to three years each in prison on Wednesday in connection with protests last October against his overthrow, judicial sources said.
EU struggles to unpick the knot of Russia-Ukraine gas logistics
(This April 14 story was corrected to change year of previous supply cuts in third paragraph to 2006 from 2007)
Yemen’s al Qaeda leader vows to attack America in new video
DUBAI (Reuters) – The leader of Al Qaeda’s wing in Yemen has vowed to attack the United States, in a video apparently showing a gathering of the group celebrating a mass jailbreak of fighters.
Ocean floor search for missing Malaysia plane cut short again
PERTH, Australia (Reuters) – The search for a Malaysia Airlines jetliner deep in the Indian Ocean was again cut short on Wednesday when technical problems forced a U.S. Navy underwater drone to surface without finding anything, officials said.
Palestinians, Israeli police clash at Jerusalem holy site
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli riot police entered one of Jerusalem’s most revered and politically sensitive religious compounds on Wednesday to disperse rock-throwing Palestinians opposed to any Jewish attempts to pray there.
Chastened by Islamists, Somalia redraws Mogadishu security plan
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – When Islamist militants blasted their way to within 50 meters of the Somali president’s residence, they forced a sharp rethink of security in the capital Mogadishu.
Pakistan publishes list to embarrass tax cheats into paying up
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Desperate Pakistani tax authorities are publicly shaming defaulters by publishing their tax details in a directory for the first time, officials said on Wednesday.