Lebanon’s Hariri vows to confront Sunni radicals
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Leading Lebanese politician Saad al-Hariri vowed on Friday to tackle sectarian radicalism in his Sunni sect but said Shi’ite Hezbollah must end its involvement in Syria if Lebanon is to avoid being drawn into a “sectarian holocaust”….
Twenty-five years after Soviet exit, Taliban says U.S. will meet same fate
KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban called on Afghans to expel the United States from Afghanistan on Saturday just as they said Afghan mujahideen fighters had done to Soviet forces 25 years ago to the day.
Chinese army cracks down on housing, cars in anti-graft drive: report
BEIJING (Reuters) – China cleared out illegal occupants from 27,000 military apartments over a seven-month period last year as part of a wider anti-corruption drive, according to a report in the official PLA Daily newspaper.
U.S., China agree to work on climate change
BEIJING (Reuters) – China and the United States, the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, pledged on Saturday to work together to attenuate the effects of global climate change.
Obama pledges $1 billion in loan guarantees for Jordan
RANCHO MIRAGE, California (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday pledged $1 billion in loan guarantees for Middle East ally Jordan and the renewal of a five-year aid package.
Venezuela frees some student protesters, unrest continues
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan authorities freed 25 student protesters on Friday pending trial and said that 74 others arrested after this week’s deadly political turmoil would be processed within hours.
Colombia army report says there was no spying on peace talks
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Peace talks between Colombia’s government and Marxist FARC rebels were not spied on by military intelligence, the army’s Inspector General said in a report on Friday that disputed such claims made by a weekly news magazine.
Niger extradites former Gaddafi intelligence official to Libya
NIAMEY (Reuters) – Niger’s government has extradited Abdallah Mansour, a former top Libyan intelligence official under toppled President Muammar Gaddafi, to Libya on suspicion of plotting against the government in Tripoli, military sources said.
Thousands flee Syrian town as ‘major assault’ looms
GENEVA (Reuters) – Thousands of people have fled a rebel-held town in Syria after it was bombed and shelled in an operation that has prompted fears of a major assault by ground troops, the United Nations said on Friday.
Exclusive: Syria on track to miss deadline to destroy chemical weapons
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Syria has relinquished only 11 percent of its chemical weapons in three shipments and is on track to miss a politically-loaded midyear deadline to completely destroy the toxic stockpile, sources told Reuters on Friday.
