Bodies of seven kidnapped Afghans found, signs of torture: officials
KANDAHAR (Reuters) – Seven Afghan civilians believed kidnapped by the Taliban last month have been found dead with their hands bound behind their backs and apparently tortured, local officials in the southern province of Zabul said on Wednesday.
Hungary PM courts diaspora vote for 2014 election
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged Hungary’s large ethnic diaspora on Wednesday to exercise their newly won right to vote in next year’s national election, hoping they will help to further cement his grip on power.
Research dispute puts EU-Israel ties under severe strain
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – As Israel looks warily west in the hope that the United States has its back in any conflict with Iran, it might do well to glance north and consider its relations with Europe too.
Sollecito pleads innocence in Kercher murder trial in Italy
FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) – Raffaele Sollecito, the young Italian accused with his former girlfriend Amanda Knox of murdering Briton Meredith Kercher in 2007, appealed to a court on Wednesday to dismiss the “absurd” charges.
Berlusconi says his kids feel persecuted like Jews by Hitler
ROME (Reuters) – Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said his children feel persecuted just as Jewish families did in Nazi Germany because he is being hounded by the country’s magistrates who want to eliminate him politically.
UK trial told Murdoch ex-editor Coulson is honest and straightforward
LONDON (Reuters) – Andy Coulson, the former editor of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid who is on trial over alleged phone-hacking offences, is honest and would not seek a story “at any cost”, a close friend told a London court on Wednesday.
Egyptian court upholds Muslim Brotherhood ban
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood failed in an attempt on Wednesday to overturn a court ruling banning it, the state news agency said, another blow to the debilitated Islamist movement.
Dutch ask sea tribunal to free Greenpeace activists
HAMBURG (Reuters) – The Netherlands asked an international court on Wednesday to order Russia to release 30 people detained during a Greenpeace protest against oil drilling in the Arctic at a tribunal Moscow refused to attend.
Rain dampens latest Greek strike against austerity
ATHENS (Reuters) – Thousands of striking Greek workers marched to parliament in pouring rain on Wednesday to protest against measures imposed by foreign lenders, whose inspectors are in Athens to review the country’s bailout.
South African ex-union official gunned down on volatile platinum belt
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Attackers gunned down a former senior union official at platinum producer Lonmin, stoking political and industrial tensions on South Africa’s volatile platinum belt.
