France urges Algeria to respect basic freedoms ahead of elections
PARIS (Reuters) – France urged Algeria on Friday to respect the right to peaceful demonstrations and free expression after Algerian police stopped an opposition march this week ahead of presidential elections.
Turkey vows to protect Ottoman tomb in northern Syria from rebels
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey threatened on Friday to retaliate for any attack on the tomb of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, in an area of northern Syria largely controlled by militant Islamists.
Nearly two dozen killed in attacks across Pakistan despite talks
PESHAWSAR/QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Attacks in the volatile Pakistani cities of Peshawar and Quetta killed a total of 19 people on Friday, frustrating hopes of a lasting peace deal with insurgents fighting to topple the government.
France says EU shirking duty to Central African Republic
PARIS (Reuters) – France said on Friday the European Union was shirking its responsibilities for international security after an EU plan to send up to 1,000 troops to Central African Republic next week seemed to be about to collapse.
Syrian presidential election law excludes most opposition leaders
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s parliament has set residency rules for presidential candidates, state media said on Friday, a move that would bar many of President Bashar al-Assad’s foes who live in exile as the uprising in the major Arab state enters its f…
Al Qaeda splinter group in Syria leaves two provinces – activists
BEIRUT (Reuters) – An al Qaeda splinter group in Syria pulled out of two provinces in the country’s northwest on Friday and headed to its eastern strongholds after months of clashes with rival rebels, activists said.
Hugely popular Jakarta governor named as Indonesia presidential candidate
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s main opposition PDI-P party named Jakarta governor Joko Widodo as its presidential candidate on Friday, the man widely seen as a shoo-in to be next leader of the world’s third-largest democracy.
Policeman killed, three wounded in shooting near Bulgarian school
SOFIA (Reuters) – A Bulgarian policeman was killed and three officers wounded in a shootout with an armed man who had threatened the pupils and the headmaster of a school in the central town of Lyaskovets, police said on Friday.
Saudis hardened by wars in Syria, Iraq join al Qaeda in Yemen
SANAA (Reuters) – Dozens of Saudi Islamist militants have left the battlefields of Syria and Iraq for Yemen, where their experience appears to have contributed to a spate of lethal al Qaeda attacks, a senior Yemeni security official said.
Well-known Chinese dissident dies after being denied treatment
BEIJING (Reuters) – Prominent Chinese human rights activist Cao Shunli, detained in September for staging sit-ins at the country’s foreign ministry, has died, a fellow dissident and one of her lawyers said on Friday, after she was denied medical treatm…
