Bangladesh garment factories close amid violent protests
DHAKA (Reuters) – Violent protests shuttered some 250 Bangladesh garment factories near the capital Dhaka on Wednesday, as thousands of workers demanded higher wages at the outlets providing cheap clothing for retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Libya’s Berber to boycott committee drafting constitution
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s Berber minority will boycott a committee to draft a new national constitution, Berber leaders and the election commission said, in a move that complicates attempts to end oil and gas protests.
Palestinian stabs Israeli soldier on bus: police
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A 16-year-old Palestinian stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli soldier on a bus in northern Israel on Wednesday in an attack apparently motivated by Israel’s jailing of his relatives, police said.
Analysis: Yemen fighting risks deepening sectarian divisions
DUBAI (Reuters) – A deadly assault by Shi’ite Houthi rebels on a Salafi Islamic school planted in their mountain heartland could ignite wider sectarian conflict in Yemen, where instability has already helped al Qaeda militants to take root.
Japan to tap technology for military use, another step away from pacifism
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is finalizing a budget for a new command centre for cutting-edge research modeled after the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to try to tap a broad swathe of civilian technologies with potential military use…
Afghan opium crop hits record high ahead of Western withdrawal: U.N.
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan opium cultivation has hit a record high as international forces prepare to leave the country, the United Nations said on Wednesday, with concern that profits will go to warlords jockeying for power ahead of a presidential elect…
German “wise men” warn against generous social measures
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s “wise men” panel of economic advisers warned on Wednesday that measures politicians are currently discussing in coalition negotiations such as hiking low pensions threatened to undo the years of gains from painful labor mar…
Top Indian investigator under fire for rape remark
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Rights campaigners on Wednesday demanded that the head of India’s top investigation agency resign after he said during a panel discussion on sports ethics that “if you can’t prevent rape, you enjoy it”.
Philippines forces in gunfight in typhoon-hit region: TV
TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) – Philippine security forces exchanged fire on Wednesday with armed men amid widespread looting of shops and warehouses for food, water and other supplies in the aftermath of super typhoon Haiyan, local television report…
Community members protest at Amplats mine in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Security personnel at Anglo American Platinum (Amplats)’s Mogalakwena mine in South Africa on Wednesday dispersed protesting community members who were destroying mine property, the company said.
