Thousands flee Syrian town as ‘major assault’ looms
GENEVA (Reuters) – Thousands of people have fled a rebel-held town in Syria after it was bombed and shelled in an operation that has prompted fears of a major assault by ground troops, the United Nations said on Friday.
Libyan PM dismisses army officer’s plot to ‘rescue’ country
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Friday the government was safe and security under control, dismissing a statement by a senior army official calling for the parliament to be suspended and the armed forces to “rescue” the cou…
Low-level conflict afflicts Bahrain on third uprising anniversary
MANAMA (Reuters) – Three years after Bahraini security forces subdued a popular uprising, the ruling family has launched a new dialogue with opponents to tackle simmering discontent; but a breakthrough remains elusive.
EU asks Spain for explanation over immigrant deaths
MADRID (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Friday it would ask Spain to explain why police fired rubber bullets at immigrants who were trying to swim to Spain’s north African enclave Ceuta from Morocco.
Delhi chief minister quits over delay in graft bill
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal resigned as chief minister of Delhi on Friday, frustrated by obstacles put in the way of an anti-corruption bill, and immediately proposed fresh municipal elections for India’s capital.
Pistorius talks of sorrow a year after Steenkamp shooting
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius on Friday broke his months-long silence about the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, calling her death at his hands a year ago a “devastating accident”.
France to send 400 more troops to Central African Republic
PARIS (Reuters) – France plans to send an additional 400 troops to Central African Republic to help combat the violence in its former colony, the French government said on Friday.
Exclusive: Russia, NATO plan joint operation on Syria’s chemical weapons
MOSCOW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Russia and NATO are drawing up plans for a rare joint naval operation in the Mediterranean to protect the U.S. ship that will destroy Syria’s deadliest chemical weapons, officials and other sources said.
Russia rejects proposed war crimes probe for Sri Lanka
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Russia on Friday rejected calls by Western nations for an international probe into alleged war crimes in the final phase of the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war that the government won in 2009.
Belgium surprised at international euthanasia backlash
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgian media expressed rank incomprehension over foreign criticism of the country’s extension of euthanasia to children, portraying legislation as humane and dismissing any notion of sick children being pressed to their deaths.
