Turkey scraps coup plot courts in battle over judiciary
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish lawmakers on Friday abolished special courts which had convicted hundreds of alleged military coup plotters, as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan battles a new foe he sees as using influence in the judiciary to try to unseat him….
Security staff strike brings chaos to Frankfurt airport
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A strike by security staff at Frankfurt airport caused nearly 50 flight cancellations and delayed thousands of passengers, bringing chaos to Europe’s third largest hub on Friday, the busiest day of the week for travelers.
Nigeria’s central bank governor to challenge suspension in court
LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria’s graft-fighting Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi said on Friday he would go to court to challenge his suspension by the president – though he does not want his job back, he wants to show that the move was illegal.
Ex-Murdoch editor Brooks denies having affair with Coulson
LONDON (Reuters) – Rebekah Brooks, the former boss of Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers, told a London court on Friday she did have moments of physical intimacy with fellow editor Andy Coulson but denied a prosecution charge that she had a six-year a…
From Leipzig to Hypezig – hipsters eye new playground
LEIPZIG, Germany (Reuters) – With its cheap rents, dance clubs in abandoned factories and a pulsing arts scene, Leipzig has a chance to shed its image as the poverty capital of Germany, but some locals resent the new-found popularity that has earned it…
German court rejects case to allow gay adoption on technicality
KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) – Germany’s Constitutional Court on Friday threw out a case to grant gay couples the right to jointly adopt a child on a technicality, but gay rights activists noted that a ruling by the same court last February effectively…
Iran boosts military support in Syria to bolster Assad
LONDON/ANKARA (Reuters) – As Syria’s war nears the start of its fourth year, Iran has stepped up support on the ground for President Bashar al-Assad, providing elite teams to gather intelligence and train troops, sources with knowledge of military move…
Libyan official, patients killed as military plane crashes in Tunisia
TUNIS (Reuters) – An Islamist official in Libya’s government and 10 other passengers and crew were killed when a military plane carrying medical patients crashed near Tunisia’s capital early on Friday, officials said.
Lebanon detains top suspect in car bomb campaign
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese security forces said on Friday they had detained a Sunni Muslim militant suspected of recruiting suicide bombers and assembling car bombs for a radical group behind attacks on Iranian interests in Beirut.
Unpaid Thai farmers call off airport tractor protest
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai farmers, angry at not being paid under a rice subsidy scheme, called off a protest tractor drive to Bangkok’s main airport on Friday after an assurance they would get their money, some welcome news for Prime Minister Yingluck S…
