Germany says U.S. may have monitored Merkel’s phone
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German government has obtained information that the United States may have monitored the mobile phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel and she called President Barack Obama on Wednesday to demand an immediate clarification, her spokes…
Pakistan prime minister urges Obama to end drone strikes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday urged U.S. President Barack Obama to end drone strikes in Pakistan, touching on a sore subject just as relations between the two countries improve after years of suspicion over A…
U.S., Israel differ on how to resolve Iran nuclear issue
ROME (Reuters) – U.S. and Israeli officials differed over Iran’s nuclear program on Wednesday as Israel called for its effective dismantlement and the United States suggested better safeguards could assure that it is peaceful rather than military in na…
White House seeks to limit fallout from U.S.-Saudi tensions
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration sought on Wednesday to limit any damage to the long-standing U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia in a rift over America’s role in the Middle East that has underscored growing strategic differences.
Afghan bomb squads in short supply as NATO prepares to leave
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) – The Afghan soldiers studying the art of controlled detonations of explosive devices would have to wait until another day for a practical demonstration due to an unspecified security threat.
A new leader rises as India’s regions flex their muscle
HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) – When Jagan Mohan Reddy finally emerged from 16 months behind bars in southern India last month, the adoring crowd that greeted the young politician was so enormous that it took him six hours to drive the 11 km (7 miles) to …
Tunisian police battle militants before political talks
TUNIS (Reuters) – Six Tunisian policemen were killed in armed clashes with militants in a central town on Wednesday, as the government cracked down on Islamist fighters using the chaos in neighboring Libya’s to get weapons and training.
Russia reduces charges against Greenpeace activists over Arctic protest
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia on Wednesday dropped piracy charges against 30 people involved in a Greenpeace protest against Arctic oil drilling, replacing them with lesser offences and cutting the maximum jail sentence they face to seven years from 15.
Suicide attack kills two Chadian UN troops, child in Mali
BAMAKO (Reuters) – A suicide blast killed two Chadian troops from the U.N. mission in Mali and injured six other peacekeepers in an assault on a checkpoint at the entry to the northern town of Tessalit on Wednesday.
Much of Syria blacked out by rebel attack on gas pipeline: government
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Much of Syria, including the capital Damascus, was hit by a power cut late on Wednesday after rebels attacked a gas pipeline, state media said.




