Political protesters seek halt to Libyan gas exports to Italy
MILAN/TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan demonstrators encamped at a gas terminal in the west of the country are demanding a halt to gas exports to Italy, co-operator Eni said, raising the stakes in their protest for greater political rights.
Grappling with troubled peace process, Kerry urges Israeli settlement limits
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel on Wednesday to limit settlement building in occupied territories to help push peace talks with the Palestinians back on track.
Angola teenager held for insulting president starts hunger strike
LUANDA (Reuters) – An Angolan teenager who has been in prison for two months awaiting trial for insulting President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has started a hunger strike to pressure authorities into releasing him, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
Tajik leader extending long rule in volatile region
DUSHANBE (Reuters) – Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, his only serious rival disqualified, headed for re-election on Wednesday in a Central Asian country beset by poverty and facing security threats from neighboring Afghanistan.
Kerry urges Israeli settlement limits
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel on Wednesday to limit settlement building, an issue that is weighing on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Bodies of seven kidnapped Afghans found, signs of torture: officials
KANDAHAR (Reuters) – Seven Afghan civilians believed kidnapped by the Taliban last month have been found dead with their hands bound behind their backs and apparently tortured, local officials in the southern province of Zabul said on Wednesday.
Hungary PM courts diaspora vote for 2014 election
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged Hungary’s large ethnic diaspora on Wednesday to exercise their newly won right to vote in next year’s national election, hoping they will help to further cement his grip on power.
Research dispute puts EU-Israel ties under severe strain
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – As Israel looks warily west in the hope that the United States has its back in any conflict with Iran, it might do well to glance north and consider its relations with Europe too.
Sollecito pleads innocence in Kercher murder trial in Italy
FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) – Raffaele Sollecito, the young Italian accused with his former girlfriend Amanda Knox of murdering Briton Meredith Kercher in 2007, appealed to a court on Wednesday to dismiss the “absurd” charges.
Berlusconi says his kids feel persecuted like Jews by Hitler
ROME (Reuters) – Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said his children feel persecuted just as Jewish families did in Nazi Germany because he is being hounded by the country’s magistrates who want to eliminate him politically.
