Putin says Greenpeace activists not pirates, but did break law
SALEKHARD, Russia (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Greenpeace activists arrested for staging a protest at Russia’s first offshore oil platform had violated international law but signaled they should not face charges of piracy.
Leaders of India, Pakistan to meet in New York as Kashmir simmers
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif will meet this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Singh said on Wednesday, amid heightened tension between the neighbors over Kashmir.
India-U.S. ties lose shine over economic differences
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – When India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last visited the White House in 2009 he was feted at President Barack Obama’s first state dinner, a star-studded affair that reflected the excitement about blooming ties between the two b…
Kurdish militants tunnel out of Turkish prison
BINGOL, Turkey (Reuters) – Security forces were hunting for 18 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who escaped from prison in Turkey’s southeast by digging a 70-metre-long tunnel, police said on Wednesday.
Right wing strong on Europe fears ahead of Austria poll
VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) appears likely to raise its share of the vote in Sunday elections, drawing on fears over bailouts for needier euro zone countries and the cost of supporting asylum seekers.
U.N. chemical weapons inspectors back in Damascus
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – U.N. chemical weapons inspectors returned to Syria on Wednesday to continue investigating allegations of chemical weapons use in the country’s two-and-a-half-year conflict.
Syria rebels reject opposition coalition, call for Islamic leadership
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Powerful Syrian insurgent units have rejected the authority of the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC), badly damaging efforts by Western-backed political exiles to forge a moderate rebel military force on the ground.
Thai provinces hit by floods, authorities say industry safe
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Nine people have died and more than 1 million have been affected by flooding in Thailand, officials said on Wednesday, but authorities offered assurances that floodwaters would not reach central industrial areas and near Bangkok as …
China adoption agency furious over ‘child exchange’ report
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s adoption agency said it was “very shocked and furious” about the findings in a Reuters report that exposed how U.S. parents use the Internet to abandon unwanted children they have adopted from abroad, including China.
Egypt shuts headquarters of Muslim Brotherhood newspaper
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian authorities have shut down the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice newspaper in Cairo, the latest move aimed at crushing the Islamist movement, the Brotherhood said on Wednesday.
