Hollande stonewalls on private life to make reform pitch
PARIS (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande brushed away questions about an alleged affair with an actress on Tuesday and unveiled moves to ease company taxes, cut labor charges and trim France’s high public spending to revive a stagnant economy.
Three years after uprising, Tunisians celebrate near-model transition
TUNIS (Reuters) – Thousands of Islamist and secular Tunisians marked the third anniversary of autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali’s downfall on Tuesday, celebrating in the closest the Arab world has to a model transition to democracy.
Militiamen briefly storm Libyan parliament to demand vote
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Former Libyan militia fighters stormed parliament on Tuesday and fired in the air to try to force assembly members to take a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.
Army chief Sisi in focus as Egyptians vote on constitution
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptians voted on Tuesday for the first time since the military deposed president Mohamed Mursi on a draft constitution that may set the stage for a presidential bid by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Mexico vigilantes refuse to lay down arms in troubled state
NUEVA ITALIA, Mexico (Reuters) – Vigilante groups battling a powerful drug cartel in a troubled region of Mexico on Tuesday rejected a government call to lay down their arms, raising the risk of an increased security headache for President Enrique Pena…
U.S. condemns Iran decision to put wreath on Hezbollah leader’s grave
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Tuesday condemned a decision by Iran’s foreign minister to place a wreath at the grave of a former Lebanese Hezbollah leader accused of perpetrating attacks that killed hundreds of people.
Indian diplomat seeks dismissal of U.S. criminal case
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A lawyer for Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on Tuesday asked a U.S. judge to throw out immigration and employment charges against her that led to a major diplomatic spat between the United States and India.
Bombs kill 12 in Baghdad, militants stage big attack near Falluja
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Two car bombs killed 12 people in Baghdad on Tuesday and Sunni Muslim militants staged coordinated attacks near the western city of Falluja, destroying two tanks and capturing a police station, police said.
Serbian ex-security men held over Milosevic-era killing of journalist
BELGRADE (Reuters) – Two former Serbian state security agents were detained on Tuesday over the killing of opposition newspaper publisher and journalist Slavko Curuvija during the rule of strongman president Slobodan Milosevic in 1999.
Analysis: Italy’s top court leaves electoral reform in tangle
ROME (Reuters) – The reasons given by Italy’s top court for throwing out key planks of the country’s electoral law leave politicians no closer to agreeing a new system to give Italy the stable government it badly needs.
