Czech Communist hardliner jailed for abuse of power dies in Prague
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech Communist hardliner Miroslav Stepan, one of the few top Communist leaders convicted for abuse of power after the Soviet-backed regimes in Eastern Europe collapsed in 1989, died on Sunday aged 68, local media reported.
Fake U.S. ship spotted in Gulf is a movie set, Iranian media say
DUBAI (Reuters) – A replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier spotted near the coast of Iran is nothing more sinister than a movie set, Iranian media said on Sunday.
Turkish PM Erdogan says rivals will be crushed
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, rallying hundreds of thousands of cheering supporters in Istanbul, said on Sunday that political enemies accusing him of corruption would be crushed by their own immorality.
Campaigning starts in Algeria election likely to re-elect Bouteflika
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Campaigning for Algeria’s election opened on Sunday with the man expected to win, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, starting his race not with a speech or a mass rally, but with a letter.
Venezuela prosecutor sees police ‘excesses’ in protest crackdown
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s top state prosecutor on Sunday said security forces had committed “excesses” in breaking up nearly two months of opposition protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro that have left at least 34 dead.
One dead in Beirut gunfight between Assad supporters and opponents
BEIRUT (Reuters) – One person was killed and 10 people were wounded in clashes in south Beirut on Sunday between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, security sources said.
Hamas rally in Gaza takes aim at Egypt, Israel and Abbas
GAZA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied in Gaza on Sunday to show support for their Islamist Hamas government, which has long been at loggerheads with Israel but is now shunned by Egypt as well.
Protesters occupy Taiwan government building over China trade pact
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Hundreds of demonstrators occupied part of Taiwan’s government headquarters on Sunday night in protest against a controversial trade pact with mainland China.
Gunmen seized $600,000 in heist in Libyan Islamist stronghold
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Gunmen stole $600,000 in a heist on a van taking cash to a bank in an Islamist stronghold in the volatile east where there is little state control, media said on Sunday.
Election observers pull foreign staff out of Afghanistan after hotel attack
KABUL (Reuters) – Two major foreign election observer and support missions have pulled staff out of Afghanistan after a Taliban attack on a Kabul hotel, observers said on Sunday, in a move which could undermine confidence in the outcome of the crucial …
