UK trial told Murdoch ex-editor Coulson is honest and straightforward
LONDON (Reuters) – Andy Coulson, the former editor of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid who is on trial over alleged phone-hacking offences, is honest and would not seek a story “at any cost”, a close friend told a London court on Wednesday.
Egyptian court upholds Muslim Brotherhood ban
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood failed in an attempt on Wednesday to overturn a court ruling banning it, the state news agency said, another blow to the debilitated Islamist movement.
Dutch ask sea tribunal to free Greenpeace activists
HAMBURG (Reuters) – The Netherlands asked an international court on Wednesday to order Russia to release 30 people detained during a Greenpeace protest against oil drilling in the Arctic at a tribunal Moscow refused to attend.
Rain dampens latest Greek strike against austerity
ATHENS (Reuters) – Thousands of striking Greek workers marched to parliament in pouring rain on Wednesday to protest against measures imposed by foreign lenders, whose inspectors are in Athens to review the country’s bailout.
South African ex-union official gunned down on volatile platinum belt
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Attackers gunned down a former senior union official at platinum producer Lonmin, stoking political and industrial tensions on South Africa’s volatile platinum belt.
Kosovo to repeat vote in Serb stronghold, challenging hardliners
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Authorities in Kosovo said on Wednesday they would repeat a municipal election in a small ethnic Serb stronghold, paving the way for a showdown with Serb hardliners opposed to EU-backed efforts to end the country’s de facto ethnic …
Tajik leader extending long rule in volatile region
DUSHANBE (Reuters) – Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon looked set to win a new seven-year term on Wednesday, demonstrating his grip on a Muslim Central Asian state beset by poverty and facing security threats from neighboring Afghanistan.
In Assad’s Damascus, Syrians fall prey to gun law
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – When armed men appeared at a home in the northern Damascus district of Rukn al-Din, they told the elderly woman who answered the door they were state security forces carrying out a routine inspection.
Israel’s Lieberman rejoining government after acquittal
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed his former foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, back to government on Wednesday after the ultra-nationalist politician was acquitted of corruption charges.
Anti-austerity strike brings Greece to a halt during troika visit
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek schools shut and flights were disrupted as workers held a general strike on Wednesday to protest austerity imposed by foreign lenders, whose inspectors were in Athens to review the country’s performance under its bailout.
