U.S. diplomat plays down leaked call; Germany’s Merkel angry
KIEV (Reuters) – A top U.S. diplomat tried to play down the damage to Washington’s diplomacy in Ukraine from a leaked telephone call on Friday, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel called an obscene remark about the EU “absolutely unacceptable.”
Turkish forces seize suspected hijacker on plane in Istanbul
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish security forces on Friday seized a Ukrainian man who officials said made a bomb threat and tried to hijack a passenger plane, demanding to go to the Winter Olympics venue of Sochi just as the opening ceremony was taking pla…
Syria evacuates civilians from besieged Homs centre
HOMS, Syria (Reuters) – Syria evacuated 83 civilians on Friday who had lived under government siege in the devastated city of Homs for a year and a half, the first concrete result of talks launched two weeks ago to try to end the country’s civil war.
Analysis: Is Syria now a direct threat to the U.S.?
(Reuters) – Over the last two weeks, Obama administration officials have signaled – sometimes intentionally, sometimes not – that a worst-case scenario is emerging in Syria.
Bosnia rocked by spreading anti-government unrest
TUZLA/SARAJEVO, Bosnia (Reuters) – Protesters across Bosnia set fire to government buildings and fought with riot police on Friday as long-simmering anger over lack of jobs and political inertia fuelled a third day of the worst civil unrest in Bosnia s…
Venezuela says four more held over anti-Maduro protests
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday four people had been held following another rowdy anti-government protest, the latest in a spate of sporadic street demonstrations being fanned by hardline opposition parties.
In standoff, Libyans protest over parliament extension
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Several thousand Libyans marched in Tripoli and Benghazi to demand the dissolution of the interim national parliament, whose mandate had originally been due to expire on Friday with the country deeply split over its future.
Two abducted Italians freed in Libya
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Two Italian construction workers abducted three weeks ago in Libya have been released after joint efforts by the two governments, Italian and Libyan officials said on Friday.
Man lynched in Central African Republic, court plans investigation
BANGUI/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – An angry crowd killed and mutilated a man who fell from a truck filled with Muslims fleeing the capital of Central African Republic on Friday, witnesses said, while an international court said it would investigate alleged c…
Greece recovers bodies of four migrants from sea floor
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek divers recovered the bodies on Friday of four migrants who drowned while their boat was being towed by a coastguard vessel last month.
