Algeria’s Bouteflika to seek fourth term in April
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the aging independence veteran and Washington ally who suffered a stroke last year, will run for re-election on April 17, his premier said on Saturday, a vote likely to hand him a fourth term…
Ukraine’s Tymoshenko out of jail, still divisive
KIEV (Reuters) – Yulia Tymoshenko, sprung from jail on Saturday as President Viktor Yanukovich’s grip on power crumbled, is a former gas magnate whose ringing rhetoric electrified thousands during Ukraine’s 2004-5 Orange Revolution and propelled her to…
Syrian Kurds take town from Islamists: watchdog
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A Kurdish group captured a town in Syria from Islamists on Saturday in a battle in which at least 28 fighters were killed, most of them Islamists, a monitoring group reported
Pakistani Taliban say government must embrace Islamic law
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION IN WAZIRISTAN, Pakistan, Feb 22 (Reuters) – T he Pakistani Taliban told the government there was no chance of peace in the country unless Pakistan changed its political and legal system and officially embraced Islamic law.
Somalia’s al Shabaab say attack meant to get president ‘dead or alive’
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Islamist militants said on Saturday their attack on the Somali president’s compound, in which at least 11 people died, was an attempt to kill or abduct him.
Germany’s Merkel to back Kerry peace efforts during Israel visit
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will lobby on behalf of Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry when she visits Israel on Monday.
Libya arrests six Qataris at Benghazi airport with false papers, cash
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan police arrested six Qataris at Benghazi airport on Saturday as they tried to board a plane to Turkey using forged Libyan passports and carrying almost $146,000, airport security sources said.
China must drop ‘mindset of expansionism’ over Arunachal Pradesh: India’s Modi
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Narendra Modi, the leading candidate to be India’s next prime minister after a forthcoming election, declared the disputed territory of Arunachal Pradesh an integral part of India on Saturday and urged China to abandon its “mindse…
European elections can boost Commission’s legitimacy: Slovak candidate
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) – An upcoming European vote will give the European Commission a chance to boost the legitimacy of its executive arm, granting it a stronger mandate to command a sustainable economic recovery, Slovakia’s leading candidate said in an…
Pope Francis inducts new cardinals as predecessor Benedict looks on
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis urged 19 freshman cardinals to shun rivalries and factions at an induction ceremony on Saturday where his scandal-plagued predecessor, pope Benedict, made a surprise appearance.