Time to end al Qaeda presence in Falluja: Iraq’s Maliki
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday it was time to clear al Qaeda-linked militants out of the rebel-held city of Falluja, but set no deadline for any military assault.
Australia rejects claims that navy mistreated asylum seekers
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia on Wednesday rejected claims by a group of asylum seekers that they were beaten and suffered burns while being returned to Indonesia by the Australian navy under a policy that has strained ties between the countries.
Russian shipowners pay fine to free trawlers in Senegal
DAKAR (Reuters) – Russian shipowners have paid a fine of 600 million CFA francs ($1.24 million) to Senegal to free two trawlers seized for fishing illegally off the West African state, in an incident that stoked diplomatic tensions with Moscow.
Italy issues 90 mafia arrest warrants, seizes pizza restaurants
ROME (Reuters) – Italian police on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for 90 suspected members of a Naples mafia clan and seized assets worth millions of euros, including dozens of well-known pizza restaurants in Rome.
Greece offers bounty for guerrilla who failed to return to jail
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece on Wednesday offered a record 4 million euro bounty for help in capturing five fugitives after one of them went on the run during a prison furlough, deeply embarrassing authorities.
South Sudan accuses rebels of massacring 127 hospital patients
JUBA (Reuters) – The South Sudanese government has accused rebel troops of committing atrocities against civilians by killing 127 hospital patients in the town of Bor last month.
China’s Xi to pay first visit as president to Europe in March
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – China’s Xi Jinping is expected to make his first trip as president to Europe in March, to meet the country’s most important export partners after a year of trade tensions, EU diplomats said.
EU warns Israel, Palestinians of the cost of peace failure
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Both sides of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks risk paying a high price in losing European Union trade and aid if negotiations collapse, the EU ambassador to Israel said on Wednesday.
Russian coal mine blast kills two
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Two coal miners were killed in a methane gas blast at a Siberian pit on Wednesday, Russian officials said.
Ally of Mali’s President Keita elected parliament speaker
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Lawmakers in Mali on Wednesday elected a little known politician with family ties to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to head the West African nation’s parliament.
