Pussy Riot member drops release plea to support band mate
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia (Reuters) – Pussy Riot punk band member Maria Alyokhina on Friday dropped her plea for early release from jail to show support for a band mate on hunger strike to protest against prison conditions.
China outraged as Japanese lawmakers visit shrine to war dead
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s internal affairs minister and more than 100 other lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead on Friday and China responded by accusing Japan of undermining ties and trying to overturn the post-World War Two order.
German SPD urges quick action to rein in rising energy costs
BERLIN (Reuters) – The leader of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) said on Friday a new government must move quickly to rein in rising energy costs in order to safeguard the competitiveness of German industry.
South African police arrest fifth suspect in toddler murders
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African police investigating the rape and murder of two toddlers whose bodies were found in a public toilet arrested a fifth man on Friday, described by local media as the prime suspect in a crime that has shocked the nat…
New election in Maldives in doubt as challengers dither over list
MALE (Reuters) – Hopes that a presidential election in the Maldives would go ahead on the weekend faded on Friday with a new voter registry not ready because of objections from challengers to the country’s first democratically elected leader.
Factbox: German coalition watch – Merkel and SPD agree to talks next week
Leaders from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have agreed to enter negotiations on forming a grand coalition.
India, China near pact aimed at keeping lid on border tension
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – – India and China are close to an agreement to stop tension on their contested border touching off confrontation while they try to figure out a way to break decades-old stalemate on overlapping claims to long stretches of the Hima…
South Africa mine workers union says Lonmin activist shot dead
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A senior member of South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was shot dead overnight in the restive platinum belt town of Marikana, a union spokesman said on Friday.
Swiss private bank shuts up shop over U.S. tax row
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss private bank Frey & Co. is to close due to “unsustainable costs” stemming from the country’s dispute with the United States over alleged tax evasion, it said on Friday, making it the second Swiss bank to shut as a result of the row.
Blast at mosque in Russia’s North Caucasus kills suspected bombers
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A bomb exploded outside a mosque in Russia’s North Caucasus on Friday, killing two suspected suicide bombers in a region where Moscow is battling an Islamist insurgency.
