Cold War past shapes complex Merkel-Putin relationship
BERLIN (Reuters) – After one of her first encounters with Vladimir Putin in 2002, Angela Merkel joked to aides that she had passed the “KGB test” by staring straight into his eyes without averting her gaze.
Malaysia opposition’s Anwar convicted of sodomy
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) – A Malaysian court convicted opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy on Friday, upholding the government’s appeal of his acquittal two years earlier in a ruling that his supporters said was politically influenced and ai…
Thais defer decision on emergency after two hurt in shooting
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai officials assessing whether to maintain a state of emergency, which business leaders want lifted, deferred their decision on Friday, hours after two people were wounded in a shooting at the site of anti-government protests.
Violent splinter group mars peace deal with Pakistan Taliban
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s cities are unsafe from Islamist militant attacks due to their porous security, the country’s defense minister said after suicide bombers and gunmen killed 11 people in an assault on a court in the capital earlier this w…
U.S. says ready to do business with Indian front runner Modi
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The United States would welcome Indian opposition leader Narendra Modi if he wins the upcoming election, a U.S. official said, in the clearest sign Washington will drop a travel ban on Modi imposed after anti-Muslim riots in 2002….
Violence against women ‘pandemic’ in Mexico
ECATEPEC, Mexico (Reuters) – So many teenage girls turned up dead in a vacant field on the outskirts of Mexico City that people nicknamed it the “women’s dumping ground.”
China warns prominent Internet users over Kunming attack
BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing police have told prominent users of the microblogging site Weibo to cease comments deemed hurtful, including suggestions that authorities misled the public with accounts of a deadly train station attack blamed on militants f…
Senior North Korean official reappears, belies reports of another purge
SEOUL (Reuters) – A senior North Korean official, believed to be the No. 2 in the country after leader Kim Jong Un, has reappeared in official television footage, belying reports he had fallen victim to a fresh purge in the isolated nation.
Abu Ghaith urged Qaeda recruits to ‘pledge’ to bin Laden: witness
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, urged al Qaeda recruits en route to a training camp in Afghanistan to pledge their lives to bin Laden a few months before September 11, 2001, a government witness told jurors on Th…
Crimea votes to join Russia, Obama orders sanctions
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Crimea’s parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum in 10 days’ time in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian region that drew a sharp riposte …
