Catalonia sets referendum date next year, Spain says no
MADRID (Reuters) – Separatist parties in Spain’s Catalonia region set November 9 next year as the date for a proposed independence referendum on Thursday and agreed the wording, but the Spanish government immediately poured cold water on the plan.
Yemen says air strike targeted al Qaeda leaders
SANAA (Reuters) – Yemen said senior al Qaeda militants were targeted in Thursday’s air strike in al-Bayda province, the first government statement on an incident which local officials said killed 15 people on their way to a wedding.
More than 4,000 evacuated from Gaza ‘disaster area’ floods
GAZA (Reuters) – More than 4,000 people have been evacuated from flood-damaged homes in northern Gaza in what the United Nations has called “a disaster area”, officials said on Saturday.
Kerry presses Vietnam leaders to protect human rights
HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) – In his first visit to Vietnam as America’s top diplomat, John Kerry urged the country’s leaders to strengthen their commitment to human rights and allow more freedom of expression, including on the Internet.
Russia’s Lavrov says provocateurs behind ‘hysteria’ of Ukrainian protests
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukrainian demonstrators were overreacting to the country’s policy swerve to Russia and criticized the West for excessive involvement in the protests in Kiev’s Independence Square.
Israel lifts sabbath public transport ban for Jerusalem snow emergency
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Jerusalem’s heaviest snow for 50 years forced Israeli authorities to lift a Jewish sabbath public transport ban on Saturday and allow trains out of the city where highways were shut to traffic.
None hurt in Belfast bomb but device could have killed: police
LONDON (Reuters) – A bomb exploded close to a busy restaurant in Belfast on Friday night as police were clearing people from the area, leaving no one hurt, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.
German SPD counts votes on coalition with Merkel
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Social Democrats began counting 330,500 postal ballots on Saturday sent in from grassroots members who are deciding whether their party should join a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives.
Afghan president says U.S. indulging in brinkmanship over security deal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday shrugged off U.S. talk of a total military withdrawal from Afghanistan if he didn’t sign a security agreement as brinkmanship and said he wouldn’t back down on his conditions for the deal….
Asian nations call for freedom of air, seas as U.S.-China maritime near-collision revealed
TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Japan and Southeast Asian countries called for freedom of the air and sea on Saturday, as China’s military assertiveness raises regional tensions and after U.S. and Chinese warships narrowly avoided collision in the dispute…
