Italy’s Berlusconi starts community service at old people’s home
CESANO BOSCONE, Italy (Reuters) – Silvio Berlusconi smiled and waved as he left an old people’s home on Friday after his first stint of community service, a symbolic punishment for tax fraud that still allows him to wield huge influence over Italian po…
Brazil’s Rousseff drops in new election poll, rivals gain
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Support for President Dilma Rousseff among Brazilian voters has fallen and her main rivals have gained ground, reducing her chances of an outright win in the October 5 election, a new poll by Datafolha showed on Friday.
Italy’s top court to rule on European parliament electoral law
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s constitutional court will hear an appeal against the electoral law to be used in this month’s elections for the European Parliament, posing a risk that the result could be altered after the election.
Falling from continental perch is a wake-up call for South Africa
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Slipping from its perch as the continent’s biggest economy could well be the jolt South Africa’s new government needs to seriously tackle the restrictive labor laws, power shortages and other obstacles that have been crimping d…
Italy’s Renzi says to use EU presidency to push for budget flexibility pact
FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) – Italy will propose offering European Union member states that undertake structural reform more flexibility on budget rules when Rome assumes the presidency of the 28-member bloc later this year, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi s…
Syrian army moves into rebel-free Homs, starts de-mining operation
HOMS, Syria (Reuters) – Syrian armed forces moved into Homs on Friday, the provincial governor told Reuters, combing through rubble-filled streets for booby traps and mines a day after hundreds of rebels left the central city as part of a deal with the…
Finland’s SDP ousts finance minister, sets off government turmoil
SEINAJOKI, Finland (Reuters) – Finnish Social Democrats on Friday narrowly voted to replace their leader, Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen, with a left-leaning candidate in a move that could complicate government efforts to curb debt and may lead to e…
Afghanistan’s ‘forgotten’ poor wince as billions in aid go to badlands
AAB BAREEK/KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) – For all the billions of dollars in foreign aid that have poured into Afghanistan over the past 12 years, Sajeda, her head-to-toe burqa covered in dust, sobs that the world has forgotten the poorest of the poor …
China blames U.S. for stoking tensions in South China Sea
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry blamed the United States on Friday for stoking tensions in the disputed South China Sea by encouraging countries to engage in dangerous behavior, following an uptick in tensions between China and both the Ph…
Belarus won’t block creation of Eurasian Economic Union
MINSK (Reuters) – President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday Belarus would not block the signing of a deal creating a Eurasian Economic Union after resolving a dispute with Russia over oil product duties.
