Thousands of Bahrainis march for democracy ahead of F1 race
MANAMA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of mainly Shi’ite protesters marched for democratic reforms in Bahrain on Friday, two days before its annual Formula One motor race turns international attention toward the Sunni-led kingdom.
Two drug tunnels, with rail systems, found at U.S.-Mexico border
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. federal agents have uncovered two drug-smuggling tunnels underneath the U.S.-Mexico border, both surfacing in San Diego-area warehouses and equipped with rail systems for moving contraband, officials said on Friday.
Brazil’s senate warns of country’s ‘vulnerability’ to spying
BRASILIA (Reuters) – A Brazilian senate inquiry on U.S. spying in the country found Brazil “unprepared” to deal with eavesdropping by foreign agents and proposes a new law to address its “profound vulnerability,” according to a copy of a report obtaine…
Pressure mounts on Austrian far-right EU candidate to quit
VIENNA (Reuters) – Pressure mounted on Austria’s far-right Freedom Party to fire one of its two top candidates for next month’s EU parliament elections after he made racist comments and said the bloc made Nazi Germany’s Third Reich look liberal by comp…
NATO opens Kosovo airspace to civilian overflights after 15 years
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO said on Friday it had allowed private planes to fly high over Kosovo for the first time in 15 years, letting commercial airlines save time and money by taking more direct routes across the region.
India’s opposition holds strong lead in last big poll before election
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s opposition BJP party, headed by its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, is set to win 35 percent of votes in the general election starting Monday, a poll released late on Friday showed.
Gunmen kill four soldiers, officer in Yemen checkpoint raid
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) – Gunmen believed to be linked to al Qaeda killed four soldiers and an officer at a checkpoint on Friday in southeastern Yemen, a local official said.
Turkey’s Erdogan calls for rate cut, says no early election
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called for an emergency interest rate cut, ruled out early elections and spoke against the lifting of a Twitter ban on Friday, signalling no let-up in his domineering style ahead of an expected r…
Rebels take northern Syrian town on main highway: activists
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamist rebels in Syria have retaken a town from President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, activists said on Friday, in part of an offensive along a stretch of the main highway linking Damascus to the northern city of Aleppo.
Austrian Jew to take restitution case to Europe rights court
VIENNA (Reuters) – A Jewish critic of Austria’s post-war record in returning property plundered by the Nazis plans to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights after receiving a jail sentence last year when his own restitution claim went sour…