Ugandan president signs anti-gay bill, defying the West
ENTEBBE, Uganda (Reuters) – Uganda’s president signed a law imposing harsh penalties for homosexuality on Monday, defying protests from rights groups, criticism from Western donors and a U.S. warning that it will complicate relations.
Italian former spy chief cleared in CIA rendition case
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s highest court overturned convictions on Monday of former head of military intelligence Nicolo Pollari and his deputy for roles in the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in an operation organized by the United States, a court source …
Chad troops kill civilians in Central African Republic: residents
BANGUI (Reuters) – Chadian peacekeepers shot dead three civilians in a Christian neighborhood of the capital of Central African Republic on Monday, local residents said.
Air raids in central Syria kill 26: activists
AMMAN (Reuters) – Air raids on rebel-held towns across Syria killed 26 people on Monday, activists said, two days after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution demanding an end to indiscriminate shelling and aerial attacks.
‘Parallel state’ phone-tapped thousands in Turkey: officials
ANKARA (Reuters) – The network of a U.S.-based cleric illegally tapped thousands of telephones in Turkey to blackmail and concoct criminal cases as part of a campaign of covert influence over government, a top adviser to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan s…
Peru’s PM steps down after spat with finmin and first lady: source
LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s prime minister Cesar Villanueva resigned following a spat with the finance minister and the first lady, setting the stage for President Ollanta Humala to replace his cabinet chief for the fifth time since assuming power in 2011,…
Bombs target church, restaurant in Zanzibar
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Homemade bombs went off near a cathedral and a restaurant popular with tourists on Monday on the semi-autonomous and mainly Muslim Zanzibar islands, where sectarian tensions have been mounting, a police spokesman said.
Cuba continues to trim state payroll, build private sector
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba continued to shed state jobs and move workers into the private sector in 2013, according to a report issued by the official labor federation at the weekend, as President Raul Castro pressed forward with reforms to the Soviet-sty…
Bosnia unrest is ‘local fire’ that can be put out: PM
LONDON (Reuters) – The recent unrest in Bosnia is a local “fire” than can be quickly put out by moves to raise living standards, Prime Minister Vjekoslav Bevanda said on Monday.
U.N. rights envoy points to apartheid in Palestinian areas
GENEVA (Reuters) – Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip appear to amount to apartheid due to its systematic oppression of the Palestinian people and de facto expropriation of their land, a United Nations investigator said in a report.
