Madagascar names new prime minister: presidency official
ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) – Madagascar has named Kolo Christopher Laurent Roger as its new prime minister, a senior presidency official said on Friday, part of a process aimed at ending years of political crisis on the Indian Ocean island.
Lebanon in vaccination drive against polio spreading from Syria
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon launched a fourth round of polio immunisation on Friday, trying to prevent the disease spreading from neighboring Syria along with the tide of refugees fleeing the three-year conflict.
Turkey condemns ‘Armenian genocide’ resolution in U.S. Senate
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey condemned on Friday a U.S. Senate committee resolution branding the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War One as genocide and warned Congress against taking steps that would harm Turkish-American ties.
Myanmar’s first census in three decades completed amid controversy
YANGON (Reuters) – A group of women dressed in green sarong-like longyis and simple white blouses stand around a table piled with census forms entering neat notations on spread sheets by hand.
Nepal government urged to change amnesty plan
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepal’s government faced calls on Friday from human rights and victims’ groups not to grant amnesties over atrocities committed during the country’s civil war for which nobody has been brought to justice.
Longtime Berlusconi ally declared fugitive ahead of mafia verdict
PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) – A longtime political ally, business associate and friend of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has left the country ahead of a final ruling on mafia collusion charges, a Palermo prosecutor said on Friday.
Pakistani Taliban plot with seminaries to assault capital: police
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – The Pakistani Taliban will coordinate with Islamist activists at major seminaries in or near the capital, Islamabad, to launch attacks if peace talks with the government fail, police said in a report obtained by Reuters.
Sri Lanka military says it killed Tamil separatists, first clash since 2009
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s military said on Friday it had killed three ethnic Tamil separatist militants, the first combat since government troops crushed the rebels in a 2009 offensive.
Turkish government says will abide by court ruling on judicial reforms
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s government will abide by a constitutional court ruling rejecting party of a law tightening government control of the judiciary, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Friday.
Italy needs EU help to handle tide of refugees, U.N. says
GENEVA (Reuters) – An estimated 6,000 people, many of them Syrians and Eritreans, have been rescued by Italy’s navy in four days and thousands more asylum seekers keen to reach Europe have gathered in Libya, the U.N. refugee agency on Friday.
