Zimbabwe court scraps controversial Mugabe insult law
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s highest court has scrapped a law against insulting the president that has been used to arrest opponents and critics of veteran leader Robert Mugabe, a court official said on Thursday.
China demands U.S. explain spying allegations linked to Australian missions
BEIJING (Reuters) – China is demanding an explanation from the United States after a report in an Australian newspaper said Australian embassies, including the one in Beijing, were being used as part of a U.S.-led spying operation.
India’s Modi aims at history and Gandhis with world’s tallest statue
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian opposition leader Narendra Modi launched the construction of the world’s tallest statue on Thursday, a $338 million project in honor of one of the country’s founding fathers, that he is using to undermine the ruling Nehru-G…
Israeli troops kill Palestinian during West Bank raid: medics
JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) – Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian during a clash in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian witnesses and medical officials said.
Market closures dramatically cut cases of new China bird flu: study
LONDON (Reuters) – China should close live poultry markets in big cities to disrupt the spread of a new strain of bird flu that resurfaced there earlier this month, scientists said, after a previous shutdown was found to have slashed the number of huma…
Libya rescues 84 emigrants off Tripoli coast
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s navy has rescued 84 African emigrants from a boat that was foundering off its coast, state news agency Lana said, after hundreds drowned this month trying to reach Europe.
Polish journalist abducted in Syria escaped and is home
WARSAW (Reuters) – A Polish journalist who was taken hostage by Islamist militants in northwest Syria in July managed to escape and has safely returned home, local media reported on Thursday.
Sub-Saharan Africa to grow 6 pct next year – IMF
ABUJA (Reuters) – Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth is expected to increase to six percent in 2014, from five percent this year, supported by investment in infrastructure and production capacity, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursda…
EU hopeful Serbia builds unexpected alliance with Emirates
BELGRADE/ABU DHABI (Reuters) – From animal feed to missiles and loans, Serbia is banking on an unlikely alliance with the United Arab Emirates to upgrade its vital farming industry, revive military production and get badly needed cheaper finance.
Iraqi tribes say Lukoil project must fuel better life
Al-Toraba, BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – Sheikh Mansour Hamid al-Imara clutches his prayer beads and watches a huge new oil facility nearing completion across the road from his village, hoping that Russian operator Lukoil will offer his poor tribesmen a bett…
