Syrian forces re-take town in Qalamoun region
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have recaptured a Christian town on the main highway north of the capital, the army said, putting them back on the offensive in the strategic region near the Lebanese border.
Russian prosecutors seek nine years for acid attack dancer
MOSCOW (Reuters) – State prosecutors demanded a nine-year jail sentence on Friday for a dancer accused of ordering an acid attack that nearly blinded the Bolshoi Ballet’s artistic director and exposed bitter rivalries at one of Russia’s great cultural …
Anti-government protesters break into Thai army compound
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Anti-government protesters briefly forced their way into the compound of Thailand’s army headquarters on Friday in a dramatic escalation of city-wide demonstrations seeking to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Key Bangladesh garments factory destroyed in blaze
DHAKA (Reuters) – A devastating fire ripped through a Bangladesh garment factory supplying major Western retailers in a blaze set by workers angered over rumors of a colleague’s death due to police gunfire.
Suicide bomber wounds MP and bodyguards in Afghan capital
KABUL (Reuters) – A suicide bomber wounded a prominent anti-Taliban Afghan legislator and his bodyguards in an attack in Kabul on Friday, intelligence officials said.
Liberals to lead Luxembourg as coalition talks succeed
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Luxembourg City’s mayor Xavier Bettel will become the country’s next prime minister, following the end of coalition talks on Friday that usher in a Liberal government for the first time in decades.
‘Security’ swimming pool lands South Africa’s Zuma in hot water
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s top anti-corruption watchdog says President Jacob Zuma should repay some of a $21 million publicly funded “security upgrade” to his private home that included a swimming pool and cattle enclosure, a newspaper sai…
Iraqi police find 18 men shot in head and seven decapitated
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Police discovered the bodies of 18 men who had been abducted and shot in the head near Baghdad on Friday, and the decapitated corpses of seven men killed in a separate attack in northern Iraq.
Thailand’s red-shirt heartland hides its strength
HUA KHUA, Thailand (Reuters) – Squatting on flat feet, their faces drawn with exhaustion from harvesting rice, Chantee Sanwang and Nang Laor still had the energy to tussle over who loathes Thailand’s anti-government protesters more.
Analysis: Ukraine fiasco raises doubts about EU neighborhood policy
PARIS (Reuters) – The European Union’s failure to conclude a landmark agreement with Ukraine this week raises questions about a policy designed to surround the bloc with a “ring of friends” that has done little so far to stabilize its neighborhood.
