Latvia’s president nominates Laimdota Straujuma to be new PM
RIGA (Reuters) – Long-time civil servant Laimdota Straujuma was nominated on Monday to become Latvia’s first female prime minister and said the Baltic state would continue tight fiscal policies leading up to parliamentary elections in October if her ca…
Merkel in skiing accident as new German coalition bickers
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has broken her pelvis in a cross-country skiing accident, forcing her to call off some foreign visits and official appointments just when she needs to bed down her fractious new coalition government.
African migrants protest at embassies against Israeli detention
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Several thousand African migrants protested outside Western embassies in Tel Aviv on Monday, demanding freedom for compatriots jailed by Israel in a desert facility under a new open-ended detention law.
Remaining Armenians pray for peace at Christmas in Damascus
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – A small congregation of Armenian Orthodox Christians prayed for peace at a Christmas service in Old Damascus on Monday and reflected on the hardships of living in an uneasy middle ground in Syria’s increasingly sectarian conflict.
Libya says aims to run economy, banking system on Islamic lines
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya will transform its banking and economic system to comply fully with Islamic law that bans interest payments, the economy minister and other officials said on Monday, but they gave scant details on how the plans would be implem…
Hamas says rival Fatah men exiled from Gaza can return
GAZA (Reuters) – The Hamas premier of Gaza said on Monday hundreds of members of the rival Palestinian Fatah group, exiled from the coastal enclave since a 2007 civil war, could now return in what he called a step towards Palestinian unity.
Czech parties sign pact on centre-left cabinet, seek president approval
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Three Czech political parties signed an agreement on Monday to form a center-left coalition government that will aim to shore up economic growth by easing a squeeze on state finances.
Egypt summons Iran’s charge d’affaires: foreign ministry
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt on Monday summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires in Cairo to protest over recent Iranian statements on Egypt, the foreign ministry said.
Syria Islamists fight al Qaeda allies in Raqqa
AMMAN (Reuters) – Rival Islamist rebel groups fought in the Syrian city of Raqqa on Monday, residents said, as local fighters tried to drive out a foreign-led al Qaeda affiliate which has also seized towns across the border in Iraq.
Turkey’s Erdogan moots retrial of military coup plots
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has mooted the retrial of hundreds of army officers convicted of planning his overthrow, in an apparent attempt to discredit rivals he accuses of contriving a corruption crisis to drive him fro…
