Iran’s Rouhani, Israel’s Netanyahu due at Davos meeting
GENEVA (Reuters) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will both attend the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos this month, the organizers told Reuters on Friday.
Bewildered Falluja residents flee feared Iraq army assault
ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraqis fleeing from Falluja question whether the masked gunmen who overran their city 10 days ago are really al Qaeda-linked militants as the government says, but fear their presence will draw a ferocious response from the army …
Taliban killings in Pakistani city may be part of pattern
KABUL/QUETTA (Reuters) – At least two Afghan Taliban commanders have been killed in recent weeks in the Pakistani city of Quetta, militants and police told Reuters, the latest in what officials across the border in Afghanistan have described as a serie…
South Sudan’s army says seizes back oil-producing state’s capital
JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan’s army regained the rebel-held capital of Unity state, Bentiu, on Friday, giving the government control of Unity’s oilfields where production had been halted, the military’s spokesman said.
Israel announces plans for building 1,400 settlement homes
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel on Friday announced plans to build 1,400 new homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, days after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited the region to push peace talks in which settlements represent a major hu…
Indonesia’s anti-graft agency arrests ex-chairman of ruling party
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s anti-graft agency arrested a former senior member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s party on Friday, in a long-running case that has damaged the ruling party’s popularity ahead of elections.
Turkish graft scandal triggers feud over judicial independence
ANKARA (Reuters) – One of Turkey’s most senior legal figures warned Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party on Friday that efforts to tighten its grip on the judiciary would breach the constitution, deepening a crisis triggered by a damaging corruptio…
Thailand plays down coup talk ahead of city ‘shutdown’ by protesters
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand on Friday played down talk of a military coup ahead of a planned “shutdown” of the capital next week by protesters trying to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and said life would go on much as normal.
Czech president to appoint Sobotka prime minister on Jan 17
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech President Milos Zeman said on Friday he would appoint Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka as prime minister on January 17, paving the way for a center-left coalition to take power after months of political stalemate.
India asks U.S. embassy in New Delhi to withdraw a diplomat
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – – India asked the United States on Friday to withdraw a diplomat from its embassy in New Delhi in the latest retaliatory action over the arrest of an Indian consular official in New York on charges of visa fraud.
