Tajik leader to extend two-decade rule despite economic woes
DUSHANBE (Reuters) – Jubilant Tajiks greet their president with rose petals, songs and poetry and pledge oaths of eternal loyalty to a man they call “God’s shadow” as he arrives to open a stadium in his impoverished Central Asian nation.
Magnitude 5.0 quake jolts eastern Japan, no tsunami warning
TOKYO (Reuters) – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5 jolted eastern Japan including the capital, Tokyo, on Sunday, the NHK public broadcaster and witnesses said.
Japan ruling party questions plan to let Fukushima evacuees go home: media
TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese ruling party official has called into question a government plan to let people who fled from the Fukushima nuclear disaster go home, saying the government should identify areas that will never be habitable.
Cuba shutters private theaters, threatens other businesses
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba closed dozens of home-based movie theaters on Saturday and reaffirmed its plans to end the private sale of imported goods as communist authorities pressed for “order, discipline and obedience” in the growing small business secto…
Egypt to look beyond U.S. for arms: foreign minister
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said on Saturday that Egypt would look beyond the United States to meet its security needs and warned Washington that it could no longer ignore popular demands in a changed Arab world.
UK lawmakers chide police over role in ‘pleb’ scandal
LONDON (Reuters) – British lawmakers condemned on Sunday the conduct of police officers involved in a bizarre scandal that forced a cabinet minister to resign after being accused of calling a policeman a “pleb”.
Tropical Depression churns toward Mexico’s Pacific coast
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A tropical depression took aim at the Pacific coast of Mexico on Saturday, threatening heavy rains in a broad swath of western Mexico near the same area where other storms have caused major flooding over the past couple of month…
Two French journalists abducted, killed in northern Mali
BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) – Two French radio journalists were killed by gunmen in northern Mali on Saturday shortly after being abducted in the town of Kidal, French and Malian officials said.
Rousseff urges Cabinet to speed up Brazil works projects before election
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who is expected to seek re-election in 2014, urged Cabinet ministers on Saturday to speed up major infrastructure and public services projects, amid concerns about delays with much-needed road, …
UK prison incident resolved with no injuries, officials say
LONDON (Reuters) – An incident involving 40 inmates at Maidstone Prison in Kent, in southeast England, was resolved with no injuries to staff or prisoners, officials said on Saturday.
