Cubans fret as government prepares currency unification
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba is laying plans to move to a single currency, a reform that many feel is one of the toughest challenges facing President Raul Castro as he tries to kick-start the Communist country’s moribund economy.
Ex-mafioso wins British battle against extradition to Italy
LONDON (Reuters) – A fugitive Sicilian mafioso arrested in Britain last year after living a quiet suburban life under an alias for two decades won a battle against extradition on Monday when the court found that Italy’s prison overcrowding could breach…
Top Ahmadinejad aide indicted amid Iran graft case
DUBAI (Reuters) – Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s top aide has been indicted, apparently in connection with allegations of corruption in the previous administration, Iranian media reported on Monday.
Turkish cleric says Erdogan crackdown worse than army coup era
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen has described a crackdown on his followers by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as “ten times worse” than anything meted out after coups by the secularist army.
Lithuania accuses Russian diplomat of spying
VILNIUS (Reuters) – Lithuania’s domestic intelligence department on Monday accused a Russian diplomat of spying, saying he had sought to gain access to classified information during the Baltic state’s presidency of the European Union last year.
Planning could hold key to disappearance of Flight MH370
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Whether by accident or design, whoever reached across the dimly lit cockpit of a Malaysia Airlines jet and clicked off a transponder to make Flight MH370 vanish from controllers’ radars flew into a navigational and technical bl…
Cheers and criticism mark Abbas’s visit to Washington
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets on Monday to show their support for President Mahmoud Abbas, who is under heavy pressure as he prepares to meet U.S. President Barack Obama.
Tunisia police kill three militants in raid near Algeria border
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia police shot and killed three suspected Islamist militants and arrested six others in a raid near the Algerian border, the Tunisian government said on Monday.
Sri Lanka arrests two rights defenders under terrorism act
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka arrested two human rights activists in the former northern war zone, the military said on Monday, using anti-terrorism legislation that was used to crush Tamil Tiger rebels during the final phase of a 26-year war.
Rockets in Bekaa as Lebanon struggles to contain Syria spillover
AL-LABWA, Lebanon (Reuters) – Two rockets struck a mainly Shi’ite town near Lebanon’s border with Syria on Monday and security forces blew up a suspected car bomb as they struggled to contain sectarian violence fuelled by a Syrian army offensive across…
