Central African Republic fighters attack church sheltering civilians
BANGUI (Reuters) – Rebel fighters and armed Muslim civilians killed “many” people in an attack on a church compound in the Central African Republic on Monday where thousands of civilians had taken refuge, Catholic Church officials said.
Ex-Soviet minister and Georgia leader Shevardnadze dies
TBILISI (Reuters) – Eduard Shevardnadze, who as Soviet foreign minister helped bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War, died on Monday after a long illness.
Iran’s Khamenei says U.S., Israel playing ‘good cop, bad cop’
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States and Israel were playing “good cop, bad cop” to intimidate his country into making concessions on the nuclear dispute with the West.
From New York heroin dealer to Afghanistan’s biggest oil man
KABUL (Reuters) – One-eyed Rateb Popal’s debut as an Afghan businessman was not promising: he was caught smuggling heroin and locked up in a New York federal prison for almost a decade.
Vatican bank to be scaled back, restructured: sources
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican bank will soon hive off its investment activities and transform itself into an institution dedicated mostly to payment services for the Roman Catholic Church, Vatican sources said on Monday.
Iraq parliament delayed for five weeks, general killed near Baghdad
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s new parliament put off its next session for five weeks on Monday, extending the country’s political paralysis amid a Sunni Islamist insurgency which claimed the life of an army general near Baghdad.
Pushed from Slaviansk, Ukraine rebels barricade Donetsk
DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) – Pro-Russian rebels erected new barricades on the streets of Donetsk on Monday, preparing to make a stand in the city of a million people after losing their bastion in the town of Slaviansk in the worst defeat of their three-…
Italy’s Renzi cancels meeting with 5-Star over reforms
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s ruling Democratic Party (PD) on Monday cancelled a meeting with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) to discuss fundamental reforms, with each side blaming the other for the failure to meet.
Hamas steps up rocket fire, Israel says ready for escalation
GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas stepped up rocket fire at southern Israeli towns and Israel called up reserve troops on Monday in anticipation of a possible escalation of hostilities with the Islamist group that dominates the Gaza Strip.
Quake rocks Guatemala, Mexico, newborn baby among five dead
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – A strong earthquake shook the border between Guatemala and Mexico on Monday, killing at least five people, including a newborn boy, damaging dozens of buildings and triggering landslides.
