Ukrainian opposition seeks to cut president’s powers
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovich, battling mass unrest against his rule, faced demands from the opposition on Tuesday for a constitutional change that would seriously curtail his powers.
Erdogan struggles with Merkel’s scepticism on Turkish EU bid
BERLIN (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan urged Angela Merkel to throw Germany’s full weight behind his country’s bid to join the European Union but there was no sign the chancellor had been swayed from her skeptical stance on Turkish me…
Egypt summons Qatar’s chargé d’affaires over Egyptian cleric
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it had summoned Qatar’s chargé d’affaires to demand the extradition of Youssef al-Qaradawi, one of the most influential Sunni Muslim clerics in the Middle East.
Libya army says it has no orders to move against seized oil ports
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s armed forces have not received orders from Prime Minister Ali Zeidan to move against eastern oil ports and use force to end a six-month blockade there by protesters, an army spokesman said.
Bangladesh opposition says 300 men killed, disappeared in a month
DHAKA (Reuters) – The head of Bangladesh’s largest opposition party, the BNP, accused the government on Tuesday of being involved in the killing or disappearance of more than 300 activists around the time of the country’s election.
Train, mini-bus, collide in Ukraine, 12 dead: president’s website
KIEV (Reuters) – Twelve people were killed and five others injured on Tuesday when a train and minibus collided at a railway crossing point in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region, the president’s office said.
Afghanistan’s Karzai in secret talks with Taliban
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been holding secret talks with Taliban officials in the hope of persuading them to make peace with his government, his spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday, confirming a New York Times report.
Greek leftist seeks negotiated debt write-off
PARIS (Reuters) – Greece would seek to negotiate an international write-off of about one-third of its debt if the leftist Syriza opposition party won a general election, its leader said on Tuesday.
Family of Chinese activist disputes account of father’s suicide
BEIJING (Reuters) – The death of a Chinese pro-democracy campaigner’s father is being disputed by his family, a lawyer and a rights group said, after being told by authorities that he committed suicide while in detention.
Rwanda genocide trial begins in French court
PARIS (Reuters) – Twenty years after the Rwanda genocide, France opened its first trial against a suspected accomplice in the massacre that killed 800,000 people, accusing a former intelligence chief of crimes against humanity.
