With an eye on Crimea, Bosnian Serb leader calls for confederation
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia (Reuters) – Emboldened by events in Ukraine, the leader of Bosnia’s Serbs called on Tuesday for Bosnia to become a confederation of three states, and again threatened a referendum on secession if the proposal fails.
Apocalyptic prophecies drive both sides to Syrian battle for end of time
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Conflict in Syria kills hundreds of thousands of people and spreads unrest across the Middle East. Iranian forces battle anti-Shi’ite fighters in Damascus, and the region braces for an ultimate showdown.
France’s Hollande seeks fresh start as new PM begins work
PARIS (Reuters) – Francois Hollande launched what he has billed as a fresh start to his unpopular 22-month-old presidency on Tuesday, as new prime minister Manuel Valls took up his post and set about forming a reshuffled government.
Police fire water cannon in Turkish capital at election protest
ANKARA (Reuters) – Riot police fired water cannon in the Turkish capital on Tuesday to disperse thousands of people protesting outside the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) against local election results which saw the ruling party dominate the electoral …
U.N. aims to evacuate 19,000 Muslims under threat in Central African Republic
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations said on Tuesday it was trying to evacuate 19,000 Muslims urgently from Bangui and other parts of Central African Republic who are surrounded by anti-balaka Christian militia threatening their lives.
‘En attendant Godot’: Europe waiting for France
PARIS (Reuters) – As President Francois Hollande goes through the French mid-term ritual of sacking his government and appointing a new one, promising a dynamic “fresh start” after a local election drubbing, Europe is left as usual waiting for France.
Netanyahu backer’s bid for pro-settler paper rips Israeli right
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The planned purchase of a second right-wing Israeli newspaper by a major American backer of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has some critics seeing a move to shore up his constituency as U.S.-sponsored peace talks with the Pales…
Anger in China at brutality in chemical plant protests
BEIJING (Reuters) – Protests against a proposed chemical plant in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong spread to the provincial capital on Tuesday, even as authorities signalled they may back down on construction plans in attempt to head off more…
Death toll in Syria’s civil war above 150,000: monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – At least 150,000 people have been killed in Syria’s three-year-old civil war, a third of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
Humanitarian crisis looms in western Myanmar as foreign aid workers leave
DHAECHAUNG VILLAGE, Myanmar (Reuters) – With food stocks dwindling and prices rising by the hour in his camp for displaced Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, Hla Maung decided to ask a friend in the neighbouring village for food.
