Bulgaria’s ruling Socialists vow to stay despite protests
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s ruling Socialists vowed on Wednesday to stay in power to pursue reforms despite continued street protests and accused their center-right rivals of using soccer hooligans to foment anti-government violence.
Bombings target Iraq police, pilgrims, killing 19
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) – At least 19 people were killed in bomb attacks targeting Iraqi police and pilgrims on Wednesday, police and medical sources said, just before the end of a Shi’ite Muslim religious festival.
Protest in Moscow fuels Russia-Poland tension
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Protesters threw firecrackers at the Polish embassy in Moscow on Wednesday in response to a similar attack on the Russian mission in Warsaw, further straining ties between countries with a history of troubled relations.
Venezuela business leader says Maduro forcing ‘failed’ economic model
CARACAS (Reuters) – The man President Nicolas Maduro named as public enemy No. 1 in Venezuela’s “economic war” says a discredited state-driven growth model, not private enterprise, is to blame for the OPEC nation’s soaring consumer prices and chronic p…
Ukraine parliament deadlock on Tymoshenko clouds EU signing
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s parliament failed on Wednesday to agree on a draft law allowing jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to go to Germany for medical treatment, clouding prospects for signing landmark agreements with the European Union this…
Death of British spy found padlocked in bag was accidental: British police
LONDON (Reuters) – A British spy, whose naked, decomposing body was found padlocked in a bag in his bathtub, probably died accidentally on his own, police said on Wednesday, rejecting conspiracy theories that his bizarre death was the work of foreign a…
British TV crew blocked from reaching Sri Lanka’s former war zone
COLOMBO (Reuters) – British television journalists who have reported on war crimes allegations in Sri Lanka were stopped from reaching the north of the country on Wednesday by protesters who blocked their train, the TV station and local police said.
Turkey asks NATO to extend Patriot deployment near Syria border
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey has asked NATO to extend the deployment of Patriot missile batteries sent to defend the country from a possible attack from Syria because the threat remains, a foreign ministry official said on Wednesday.
Syrian Kurds make fresh military gains after declaring self-rule
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Kurdish militias seized another seven villages in northeastern Syria, activists said on Wednesday, a day after the fighters’ political wing announced an interim administration that aims to carve out an autonomous Syrian Kurdish regio…
Analysis: Yemen fighting risks deepening sectarian divisions
DUBAI (Reuters) – A deadly assault by Shi’ite Houthi rebels on a Salafi Islamic school planted in their mountain heartland could ignite wider sectarian conflict in Yemen, where instability has already helped al Qaeda militants to take root.
