U.N. plans first aid airlift to Syria from Iraq as winter grips
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations’ first relief airlift to Syria from Iraq will deliver food and winter supplies to the mostly Kurdish northeast over the next 10 days with the permission of both governments, U.N. aid agencies said on Tuesday.
Italy’s Grillo urges police to join “pitchfork” protests
ROME (Reuters) – The head of Italy’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement Beppe Grillo urged police on Tuesday to join protesters as a wave of “pitchfork” protests gave vent to bitter frustration after years of austerity and recession.
Most Syrian and Palestinian refugees held in Egypt released
CAIRO (Reuters) – More than 170 Syrian and Palestinian refugees held since October in Egyptian police stations were released on Tuesday and granted temporary permits to stay in Egypt, a government spokesman said.
Analysis: Sudan’s Bashir empowers old army ally, tightens grip
KHARTOUM/CAIRO (Reuters) – Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s appointment of an old military ally as his deputy may shield one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers from risks at home and abroad.
Abu Qatada challenges Jordanian court authority in terrorism trial
AMMAN (Reuters) – Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada told a Jordanian court on Tuesday he was not guilty of terrorism charges and he challenged its authority to try him under the terms of his deportation from Britain.
Croatia considers role in destruction of Syrian chemical weapons
ZAGREB (Reuters) – NATO member Croatia may allow the use of its Adriatic ports to load Syria’s deadly chemicals onto a U.S. ship for destruction offshore, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday.
Bangladesh to hang Islamist opposition leader: jail head
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh will hang an Islamist opposition leader within hours, his chief jailer said on Tuesday, heightening the risk of violent protests less than a month before elections are due.
Rights groups demand Egypt probe killings of Mursi supporters
CAIRO (Reuters) – Rights groups urged Egypt’s army-backed government on Tuesday to investigate mass killings of protesters by security forces during the dispersal of Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in August after Islamist president Mohamed Mursi was depose…
Afghanistan’s Karzai rebuffs U.S. pressure to sign security deal
PARIS (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai has criticized what he said was pressure from the United States to accept a security agreement, accusing Washington of behaving like a colonial power.
Suicide bomber kills 11 at Shi’ite funeral in Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed 11 people and wounded 20 at a Shi’ite Muslim funeral in a city northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said, as Iraqi insurgents pursue a campaign of deadly attacks.
