Brash Florence mayor Renzi wins centre-left leadership
ROME (Reuters) – Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi won a primary vote to become leader of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party (PD), preliminary results showed on Sunday, giving him influence over the fragile coalition government and the timing of the next e…
Dynasty’s Congress party punished in Indian state elections
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Congress party was headed for a bruising defeat in key state elections, including in the capital, early results showed on Sunday, underlining the struggle it will face to cling to power in a national election due by May.
France to start disarming Central African Republic fighters on Monday
BANGUI (Reuters) – France said it will start disarming fighters in the Central African Republic by force if necessary on Monday, as relative calm returned to the capital Bangui following three days of heavy fighting between Christians and Muslims.
Car bomb attacks across Iraq kill at least 39
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Car bombs killed at least 39 people across Iraq on Sunday and wounded more than 120, mainly targeting busy commercial streets in and around the capital, police sources said.
Syrian opposition head fears U.S.-Iran thaw could benefit Assad
KUWAIT (Reuters) – The head of the Syrian National Coalition opposition group said on Sunday a thaw in relations between Washington and Tehran could strengthen President Bashar al-Assad’s hand in Syria’s civil war.
Venezuela local vote tests President Maduro’s strength
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelans voted in municipal elections on Sunday that are the biggest political test yet for President Nicolas Maduro as he tries to halt an economic slide and preserve the socialist legacy of his late mentor, Hugo Chavez.
Protesters fell Lenin statue, tell Ukraine’s president ‘you’re next’
KIEV (Reuters) – Anti-government protesters toppled a statue of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine’s capital and attacked it with hammers on Sunday in a symbolic challenge to President Viktor Yanukovich and his plans for closer ties with Ru…
Singapore hit by rare outbreak of rioting
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A crowd set fire to vehicles and clashed with police in the Indian district of Singapore late on Sunday, in a rare outbreak of rioting in the city state.
Colombia’s FARC says to declare 30-day ceasefire from December 15
HAVANA (Reuters) – Colombia’s main leftist guerrilla group, the FARC, said on Sunday it would implement a 30-day ceasefire from December 15 while the government said it would keep pursuing the rebels after they attacked a police station a day earlier, …
British military chopper makes unexpected West Bank landing
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A British military helicopter made an unscheduled landing on Sunday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank because of a “technical malfunction”, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.
