U.S. presses Syrian opposition to agree to peace talks
AMMAN (Reuters) – The United States sought on Friday to persuade the Syrian opposition to agree to attend international peace talks in Geneva, a day before President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents gather to decide on the issue, opposition sources said.
In Libya’s west, Berber anger spills into gasfields
MELLITAH PORT, Libya (Reuters) – After seizing a Libyan port and halting oil exports, former army officer Adel al-Falu has set his sights on a more drastic protest to win rights for his ethnic Amazigh people – shutting off the gas tap which supplies It…
Turk PM faces ally’s public rebuke on mixed-sex student housing
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan suffered a public rebuke from a senior minister and long-time ally on Friday over his criticism of mixed-sex student housing, signaling a growing rift in the ruling AK Party ahead of ele…
Cuba rolls out master plan for food production and distribution
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba rolled out a master plan this week to reform food production and sales that definitively ends the state’s monopoly on distribution and replaces many rules that hamper farmers and consumers.
Syrian army closes in on Aleppo after dawn attack
ALEPPO (Reuters) – Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, backed by a dawn barrage of artillery fire and air strikes, drove Syrian rebels from a strategic military base near the disputed northern city of Aleppo on Friday, a local photographer said….
Congo says to sign peace deal with M23 rebels on Monday
PARIS (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo will sign a peace deal on Monday with the M23 rebel group that laid down its arms this week after a string of military defeats, Congo’s Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda told Reuters on Friday.
South Africa gov’t delays report on Zuma private home
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s government took to the courts on Friday to delay the release of an investigation into a $19 million taxpayer-funded upgrade of President Jacob Zuma’s private residence at Nkandla in rural KwaZulu-Natal province.
U.S., Israel lose voting rights at UNESCO over Palestine row
PARIS (Reuters) – UNESCO has suspended the voting rights of the United States and Israel, two years after both countries stopped paying dues to the U.N.’s cultural arm in protest over its granting full membership to the Palestinians.
Madagascar headed for second round in presidential vote
ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) – Madagascar’s first presidential election since a coup in 2009 will go to a run-off due in December after no candidate won an outright majority in last month’s first round vote, provisional results showed on Friday.
Evidence does not prove Arafat poisoning: Russian report
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – A Russian report quoted by Palestinian investigators on Friday said there was insufficient evidence to support the theory that Yasser Arafat died in 2004 by polonium poisoning.
