Libyan PM calls brief abduction a ‘coup’ by foes
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Friday former rebels who abducted him briefly were part of an attempted “coup” by his opponents in the country’s legislature, accusing them of seeking to undermine his government.
Guyana says Venezuela navy evicted survey ship from its waters
BRIDGETOWN (Reuters) – Guyana’s government said on Friday the navy of neighboring Venezuela had evicted a ship used by a U.S. oil exploration company from Guyanese waters, calling the move unprecedented and a serious threat to security.
Berlusconi asks to do community service instead of jail term: source
MILAN (Reuters) – Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has formally asked to do a year of community service rather than be jailed or put under house arrest after his conviction for tax fraud, a legal source said on Friday.
Tunisia Islamists ready to hand over power, see spring election
TUNIS (Reuters) – A black and white photograph on Rached Ghannouchi’s desk shows him as a young activist proclaiming the birth of a Tunisian Islamist movement that three decades later would win the first elections after the Arab uprisings.
Air raids and clashes near Syrian chemical weapons site
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian air force warplanes bombarded rebel-held targets close to a major chemical weapons facility on Friday in fighting that highlights the perils facing an international mission to eliminate President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical ars…
Sudanese activists protest in central Khartoum
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Around 150 Sudanese pro-democracy activists and Islamists protested outside Khartoum’s Grand Mosque after Friday prayers in the latest of a wave of anti-government demonstrations.
Russia refuses to bail two Britons held for Greenpeace protest
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Two Britons held in Russia for a Greenpeace protest were ordered to remain in pre-trial detention on Friday, a defeat for the first of the many foreigners among the 30 detainees to seek bail.
‘Death to America’ chants challenge Iran president’s diplomacy
DUBAI (Reuters) – While Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tries to ease friction with the United States, chants of “death to America” on Friday may deepen doubts in the West that Tehran is ready for a deal as talks on its nuclear program resume next wee…
Iran’s defiant nuclear expansion raises bar for Geneva talks
VIENNA (Reuters) – When the U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on Iran in 2006 to try to make it halt its nuclear activity, the Islamic state had a nascent uranium enrichment program with a couple of hundred centrifuges it was testing.
U.S. fiscal standoff gets nod in G20 communique: French finance minister
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Finance ministers from the G20 leading economies have included a sentence about the U.S. fiscal situation in the communique to be delivered Friday after they conclude their meeting here, France’s finance minister, Pierre Moscovic…
