Venezuela’s Maduro holds rare dialogue with opponents
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro held a rare meeting with opponents on Wednesday, challenging them to collect signatures to oust him in 2016 if they wanted but to work with him in the meantime.
Testing time for Chinese media as party tightens control
BEIJING (Reuters) – Early next year, Chinese journalists will have to pass a new ideology exam to keep their press cards, in what reporters say is another example of the ruling Communist Party’s increasing control over the media under President Xi Jinp…
Bolivia says U.S. orchestrated getaway of detained New Yorker
LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia on Wednesday accused the United States of helping a New York businessman escape from the South American country where he had spent 18 months in prison and was under house arrest for alleged money laundering.
U.S.’s Kerry expresses regret to India over diplomat case
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called a top Indian official to express regret about the case of an Indian diplomat strip-searched after her arrest in New York last week on charges including visa fraud, the State Department sa…
U.N. General Assembly condemns Syria, Iran, North Korea for rights abuses
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday condemned Syria for widespread human rights abuses and expressed concern about such violations in Iran and North Korea, but it welcomed pledges by Iran’s president to improve i…
South Sudan army says loses town as fighting spreads
JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan’s army said it had lost control of the flashpoint town of Bor on Wednesday, its first acknowledged reversal in three days of clashes between rival groups of soldiers that have triggered warnings of a slide into civil war.
U.N. heads, EU call for humanitarian ceasefire in Syria
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The heads of the U.N. and European Union aid agencies called on Wednesday for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Syria to allow convoys to deliver help to areas that aid workers cannot reach.
Israeli-Palestinian talks might take a year to complete: Erekat
BEIT JALA, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinians and Israelis will need up to one more year to complete a peace deal if they can reach a broad framework accord in the coming weeks, the chief Palestinian negotiator said on Wednesday.
Turkey’s Erdogan says corruption probe aims to smear government
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday denounced a corruption crackdown on his allies months ahead of elections as a “dirty operation” to smear his administration and undermine the country’s progress.
Abbas guards intervene in confrontation between senior Palestinians
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s elite guard unit surrounded parliament in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday to protect a legislator from being attacked by another senior official, witnesses said.
