Egypt steps up campaign to control mosques
CAIRO (Reuters) – The Egyptian government has stepped up a campaign to curb Muslim Brotherhood influence over mosques, saying it has licensed more than 17,000 state-approved clerics to give Friday sermons to stop places of worship falling “into the han…
Kuwait says three citizens abducted in Syria
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwait said three of its citizens have been kidnapped in Syria and it has asked Turkey for help in trying to secure their release.
Israeli minister urges Netanyahu to annex settlements
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A senior Israeli minister has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex a swathe of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying peace talks with the Palestinians were dead.
Eight school children killed in Chinese bus crash
BEIJING (Reuters) – Eight school children died in a bus crash on China’s southern island province of Hainan on Thursday on their way to a school outing, state media reported, in the latest in a string of traffic accidents to fuel public anger.
After Indonesia’s surprise election, top party hunts for friends
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia is set for a period of political uncertainty after an unconvincing election win by the main opposition party which will likely force it to find allies to back its candidate in a July vote for president of Southeast Asia’s …
Turkey keeps YouTube block despite court rulings
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish authorities defied court orders and reaffirmed a ban on YouTube imposed after the posting of illicit recordings of top secret security talks that was cited by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as part of a “dirty campaign” to t…
Honduras, Venezuela have world’s highest murder rates: U.N.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Honduras retains the world’s highest murder rate, according to a United Nations report published on Thursday, with the Americas overtaking Africa as the region with the most peacetime murders per 100,000 people.
U.S. defense chief praises Mongolia, given horse during visit
ULAN BATOR (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel praised Mongolian troops and got a horse as a gift during a rare visit on Thursday to the landlocked nation strategically located between China and Russia that sits on vast quantities of untappe…
Big gaps remain between U.S. and Japan in trade talks: ministers
TOKYO (Reuters) – Big gaps remain between the United States and Japan after two days of top-level talks on a bilateral trade deal that is vital for a broader regional pact, negotiators on both sides said on Thursday.
Car bomb explodes outside Greek central bank building, no one hurt
ATHENS (Reuters) – A car bomb exploded outside a central bank building in Athens early on Thursday, smashing windows but causing no injuries, just hours before Greece was due to make its first foray into the international bond markets in four years.
