South Sudan army says loses town as fighting spreads
JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan’s army said it had lost control of the flashpoint town of Bor on Wednesday, its first acknowledged reversal in three days of clashes between rival groups of soldiers that have triggered warnings of a slide into civil war.
U.N. heads, EU call for humanitarian ceasefire in Syria
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The heads of the U.N. and European Union aid agencies called on Wednesday for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Syria to allow convoys to deliver help to areas that aid workers cannot reach.
Israeli-Palestinian talks might take a year to complete: Erekat
BEIT JALA, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinians and Israelis will need up to one more year to complete a peace deal if they can reach a broad framework accord in the coming weeks, the chief Palestinian negotiator said on Wednesday.
Turkey’s Erdogan says corruption probe aims to smear government
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday denounced a corruption crackdown on his allies months ahead of elections as a “dirty operation” to smear his administration and undermine the country’s progress.
Abbas guards intervene in confrontation between senior Palestinians
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s elite guard unit surrounded parliament in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday to protect a legislator from being attacked by another senior official, witnesses said.
Lost in Melilla: Syrian refugees despair as Europe closes door
MELILLA, Spain (Reuters) – Yahya Khedr has travelled for more than two years, through five countries and with six forged passports to get his family from the war-ravaged Syrian city of Homs to Europe.
Putin gambles on Ukraine bailout
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin has taken a gamble with Russia’s own fragile economy by bailing out Ukraine for the sake of keeping it in Moscow’s orbit and out of the European Union’s embrace.
Thousands demand Italian government resign in Rome rally
ROME (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters furious about high unemployment and a political class they regard as corrupt rallied in central Rome on Wednesday demanding the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s government.
Iran, six powers to resume nuclear talks after snag
DUBAI/VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers will resume talks in Geneva on Thursday about how to implement a landmark nuclear agreement, a week after Tehran broke off the discussions in anger at an expanding U.S. sanctions blacklist.
Protest wave against new Austrian government rises
VIENNA (Reuters) – A wave of protests against Austria’s new government escalated as tens of thousands of civil servants demonstrated in Vienna on Wednesday for better pay and an end to a hiring freeze.
