Foreign donors urged to help bar Afghan rights violators from polls
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s aid donors should use their leverage to force the government to ban human rights violators from competing in a presidential election next year, a human rights group said on Wednesday.
Around 60 dead in clashes in Central African Republic
BANGUI (Reuters) – Around 60 people have been killed in sectarian clashes in Central African Republic between local militias and former rebels, witnesses and a local official said on Wednesday.
Two more French journalists held in Syria
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday two more French journalists were being held hostage in Syria, taking the number of its captive citizens in the country to four.
Egyptian court sets November 4 trial date for deposed President Mursi
CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian court on Wednesday set November 4 as the date for the trial of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and other senior figures in the Muslim Brotherhood on charges of inciting violence.
Hardline newspaper report sends Iran foreign minister to hospital
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator went to hospital with pains he said were brought on by a hardline newspaper quoting him as saying President Hassan Rouhani’s phone call with President Barack Obama was a mistake.
Kerry to push China, SE Asia to discuss sea dispute
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will push Southeast Asian leaders and China to discuss the South China Sea dispute at an Asian summit, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, despite Beijing’s reluctance to …
German president expects progress on Ukraine’s Tymoshenko
KRAKOW, Poland (Reuters) – German President Joachim Gauck said on Wednesday he expected to see progress in the case of jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Julia Tymoshenko, an issue which has blocked the signing of a free trade deal between Ukraine and …
Social Democrats get task to form Austrian government
VIENNA (Reuters) – Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann’s Social Democrats (SPO) got the tough task of forming a new government on Wednesday and hoped to rebuild their alliance with the conservatives to stave off the eurosceptic far right.
High stakes for Putin as his Olympic dream nears
SOCHI/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has staked his personal and political prestige on February’s Winter Olympics in the city of Sochi, yet despite the $50-billion price tag the Games could still be an embarrassing flop.
Veteran Tajik leader to seek new 7-year term in November 6 vote
DUSHANBE (Reuters) – Tajikistan’s longtime President Imomali Rakhmon registered on Wednesday to run for a new seven-year term in a November 6 election that would extend his rule to nearly three decades.
