Ex-Berlusconi government official arrested for mafia collusion
NAPLES (Reuters) – Italian police arrested a former member of Silvio Berlusconi’s government, accusing him of colluding with the mafia to quash competition against his family’s petrol distributorship near Naples, officials said on Thursday.
Militants attack Iraq army battalion HQ near capital
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Militants attacked the headquarters of an Iraqi army battalion south of Baghdad overnight, killing at least 12 soldiers and bringing their fight against the government closer to the capital.
Turkey lifts Twitter ban after court ruling
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s telecoms authority lifted a two-week-old ban on Twitter on Thursday after the constitutional court ruled the block breached freedom of expression, an official in Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s office said.
Chad to withdraw troops from AU mission in Central African Republic
PARIS/N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – Chad said on Thursday it would withdraw its troops from an African Union peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic, a setback to attempts to build a large international force to stem religious conflict in the impoveri…
Libya sees ‘good intentions’ in talks with rebels, no deal yet
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libya has seen “good intentions” at indirect talks with eastern rebels which might lead to the lifting of their blockage of major oil ports within days, acting oil minister Omar Shakmak said on Thursday.
Scores fall sick at Cambodian garment factories
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Scores of garment workers have fallen sick this week at factories in Cambodia, including two that produce clothing for sportswear groups Puma SE and Adidas, workers and the companies said on Thursday.
Pakistan PM frees 16 prisoners to try to revive Taliban peace talks
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan has freed at least 16 Taliban prisoners with the approval of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, government and intelligence officials said on Thursday, in a move designed to invigorate a shaky peace process with the militant gr…
Toronto mayor votes against Mandela; a mistake, he says
TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is not perfect, as His Honor has freely admitted in the past, notably after confessing to smoking crack cocaine, probably while in “a drunken stupor”.
Russia to U.S. on Crimea annexation: Accept it and move on
MOSCOW (Reuters) – U.S. policymakers need to calm down, maybe do some yoga and accept that Crimea is now part of Russia, a senior Russian diplomat said on Thursday in unusually caustic remarks directed at Moscow’s former Cold War-era adversary.
Chile hit by powerful quake aftershock, no major damage
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck off northern Chile late on Wednesday but there were no reports of damage and a precautionary tsunami alert along the coast and in neighboring Peru was called off.
