Election shows Georgia’s democracy maturing: observers
TBILISI (Reuters) – European observers on Monday gave Georgia’s presidential election a clean bill of health, saying it was “positive and transparent” and respected freedoms of expression, movement and assembly.
Indonesia politician grabs new headlines by banning monkey business
JAKARTA (Reuters) – On the congested streets of Indonesia’s capital, chained monkeys are a surreal sideshow. Some ride tiny bicycles wearing baby doll masks or shake people’s hands for small change.
Israel shoots down Gaza rocket, readies prisoner release
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets at a southern Israeli coastal city on Monday and Israel’s Iron Dome interceptor shot down one while the other fell into the sea, a military spokeswoman said.
Thai rubber farmers protest again to demand government intervention
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Rubber farmers in Thailand took to the streets again on Monday to demand that the government buy their produce at prices higher than the market, rejecting a subsidy offered last month and threatening violence if their demands are no…
Three Egypt policemen killed in attack in Nile Delta town
CAIRO (Reuters) – Three Egyptian policemen were killed on Monday when masked men attacked a checkpoint in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, security sources said.
Stung by scandal, South Korea weighs up cost of curbing nuclear power
SEOUL (Reuters) – It started with a few bogus safety certificates for cables shutting a handful of South Korean nuclear reactors. Now, the scandal has snowballed, with 100 people indicted and Seoul under pressure to rethink its reliance on nuclear powe…
China criticizes ‘self-deceiving’ Japanese politicians
BEIJING (Reuters) – Japanese politicians are being provocative and are deceiving themselves about a territorial dispute, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday, a day after Japan’s prime minister said it was ready to be more assertive towards China.
Colombia’s FARC frees ex-U.S. marine after four months in jungle
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s FARC guerrillas have freed a former U.S. marine who was kidnapped in June while he trekked through the jungle in a known guerrilla area, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the U.S. government said on S…
Stray shell from Syria kills man in Turkey: sources
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – A 35-year-old man was killed in the southeastern Turkish town of Ceylanpinar early on Monday when a stray mortar shell fired across the border from Syria struck a house near the frontier, security sources said.
German paper says Obama aware of spying on Merkel since 2010
BERLIN (Reuters) – A German newspaper said on Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama knew his intelligence service was eavesdropping on Angela Merkel as long ago as 2010, contradicting reports that he had told the German leader he did not know.
