Saudis reject Security Council seat, angry over Mideast inaction
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia turned down a coveted seat on the United Nations Security Council on Friday in a rare display of anger at the failure of the international community to end the war in Syria and act on other Middle East issues.
Thousands march for Mursi across Egypt, policeman killed in Sinai
CAIRO (Reuters) – Thousands of supporters of Egypt’s deposed President Mohamed Mursi protested in Cairo on Friday, shouting slogans against army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who removed him on July 3.
Charred bodies from Kenya mall ‘highly likely’ to be gunmen: lawmaker
NAIROBI/OSLO (Reuters) – Two charred bodies recovered from Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall are highly likely to be two of the gunmen who killed dozens of people last month in one of the worst militant strikes on Kenyan soil, a lawmaker probing the att…
China outraged as Japanese lawmakers visit shrine to war dead
TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese minister and more than 100 other lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead on Friday, prompting China to accuse Japan of undermining ties and trying to overturn the post-World War Two order.
Fire engulfs up to 300,000 tons of sugar at Brazil terminal
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – A fire on Friday destroyed up to 300,000 tons of sugar and much of the Santos Port warehouses owned by Copersucar, the world’s largest trader of the sweetener, the port authority of Santos said.
Kyrgyz crowd attacks Australian gold miner’s office
ALMATY (Reuters) – A crowd of about 200 people on Friday attacked the local office of Z-Explorer, an Australian company developing a gold field in southern Kyrgyzstan, in what appeared to be another violent conflict over the privatization of the countr…
South African union official at Lonmin mine shot dead
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A senior member of South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was shot dead overnight in the restive platinum belt town of Marikana, a union spokesman said on Friday.
Ill and long isolated, Iranian opposition leaders scent freedom
DUBAI (Reuters) – Four months after President Hassan Rouhani’s election, Iran is reviewing the house arrest of two opposition leaders, but conservatives may fear the consequences of freeing men who remain heroes to many Iranians.
Fire reported at Copersucar warehouses in Santos: fire department
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Fire broke out at two Santos Port warehouses controlled by Copersucar, Brazil’s biggest trader of sugar and ethanol, early on Friday, said Francisco Milani of the Santos Fire Department.
Al Qaeda strikes fear into Iraq’s government-backed Sunni militia
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Ahmed froze as he opened the small white envelope left on his doorstep in the Iraqi town of Latifiya. Shaking, he looked around before reading the words scrawled on the envelope. Inside was a bullet.