U.S. VP Biden visits divided Cyprus, urges a peace deal
NICOSIA (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited ethnically-split Cyprus on Wednesday to lend support to complex peace talks on an island which has the potential to play an important role in easing Europe’s reliance on Russian gas.
Russia calls U.N. vote on Syria ‘publicity stunt,’ vows to veto
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Russia dubbed as a “publicity stunt” a planned U.N. Security Council vote on Thursday on a resolution to refer Syria’s civil war to the International Criminal Court, warning that the move would be detrimental to attempts to b…
Search for British sailors to continue, no sightings yet: U.S. Coast Guard
BOSTON (Reuters) – International efforts to find four British sailors missing since Friday in the Atlantic have not yet yielded any sightings of life rafts or persons in the water, U.S. Coast Guard Captain Anthony Popeil said on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka blocks two more websites critical of government: rights group
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka blocked two more news websites critical of the government, media rights groups said on Wednesday, a move press groups see as intended to intimidate critics of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration.
Magnitude 6.0 quake off India’s east coast, no damage reported
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck off India’s east coast on Wednesday and the tremors were felt in several cities.
Russia vows to retaliate against U.S. human rights sanctions
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia vowed on Wednesday to retaliate against what it called “unfounded” U.S. sanctions imposed a day earlier on 12 Russians for human rights abuses, including allegedly denying medical care to a whistleblowing lawyer who died in a …
Food distribution under way for 60,000 in Syria’s Aleppo: Red Cross
GENEVA (Reuters) – The Red Cross said on Wednesday it begun a major distribution of emergency rations on both sides of the battle lines around the divided northern Syrian city of Aleppo, its first since October.
Kerry to discuss Venezuelan crisis on Mexico visit: U.S. official
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will discuss stalled talks over unrest in Venezuela on a trip to Mexico on Wednesday, a State Department official said, adding that Washington hopes for progress quickly to ease a crisis in whic…
Tuareg separatists beat back Mali army offensive on northern town
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Tuareg separatists have pushed back an attempt by Mali’s army to seize control of their stronghold town of Kidal, a diplomat and a spokesman for the Tuareg National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) said on Wednesday.
Twitter friendship blossoms for Asian nationalists Modi and Abe
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe follows only three people on Twitter: his outspoken wife, a scandal-tainted politician and India’s prime minister-in-waiting Narendra Modi.
