India and Pakistan ramp up aid as they jostle for influence in Kabul
KABUL (Reuters) – India’s most important message for Afghanistan is that it is not leaving, and it is backing that message with the biggest aid package it has ever given another country.
Berlusconi denied permit to attend Dublin conference
MILAN (Reuters) – A Milan court rejected a request by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose passport was confiscated after his conviction for tax fraud, to leave Italy to attend a conference in Ireland, judicial sources said on Tuesday.
U.S. rights activist alleges Egypt police abuse
CAIRO (Reuters) – A U.S. rights activist on Tuesday accused Egyptian police of breaking her arm after they detained her in Cairo airport while she was on her way to a humanitarian visit to neighboring Gaza.
Strasser denies wrongdoing as bribery retrial begins
VIENNA (Reuters) – Former Austrian Interior Minister and European lawmaker Ernst Strasser professed his innocence on Tuesday as his retrial in a cash-for-laws case began.
Gunmen storm government complex in Iraq’s Samarra
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) – Gunmen in military uniform broke into the city council and court house in Samarra in northern Iraq on Tuesday, holding the facility for four hours until police and army stormed the compound, the mayor and police officials said….
Turkey scrambles jets after Russian plane flies near its Black Sea coast
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The Turkish Air Force scrambled eight F-16 fighter jets after a Russian surveillance plane flew parallel along its Black Sea coast, the military said on Tuesday, amid increased tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
East African states mull stabilization force for South Sudan
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – East African states are considering sending troops into South Sudan to help enforce a ceasefire deal between government forces and rebels, a regional bloc said, amid persistent accusations by both sides that the other is breakin…
Syria has relinquished about a third of its chemical weapons: OPCW
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Syria has shipped out about a third of its chemical weapons stockpile, including mustard gas, for destruction abroad, the global chemical arms watchdog said on Tuesday.
Syrian forces press assault on strategic town near Lebanon
AL-SAHL, Syria (Reuters) – Gunfire crackled and warplanes buzzed overhead as Syria’s military fought on Tuesday to take a town that would help President Bashar al-Assad seal a link between his coastal bastions and Damascus.
Cyprus approves privatizations needed for bailout
NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cyprus’s parliament approved plans for privatizations on Tuesday, averting a showdown with international lenders who insist on state selloffs as part of a 10 billion-euro ($13.77 billion) bailout.
