Brazil orders convicted ruling party officials to begin prison time
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Supreme Court on Friday ordered former leaders of the ruling Workers’ Party to begin serving sentences following landmark convictions over a congressional vote-buying scheme in a country with a long history of political c…
Albanian ‘No’ deals blow to Syria chemical weapons plan
THE HAGUE/TIRANA (Reuters) – Albania rejected on Friday a U.S. request to host the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, dealing a blow to a U.S.-Russian accord to eliminate the nerve agents from the country’s protracted civil war.
Philippine typhoon death toll jumps; U.S. helicopters boost aid effort
TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) – The death toll from one of the world’s most powerful typhoons surged to about 4,000 on Friday, but the aid effort was still so patchy bodies lay uncollected as rescuers tried to evacuate stricken communities across the…
Dozens dead in clash with Libyan militiamen in Tripoli
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – At least 32 people were killed and almost 400 wounded in gun battles between Libyan militiamen and armed residents in Tripoli on Friday in the worst street fighting for months to test the shaky central government.
Britain’s Cameron faces protests in former Sri Lanka war zone
COLOMBO/JAFFNA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Crowds of protesters met British Prime Minister David Cameron in the north of Sri Lanka on Friday, some surging towards his vehicle brandishing photos of relatives lost in the country’s long civil war that ended fo…
Berlusconi party at risk as splinter group formed
ROME (Reuters) – The secretary of Italian center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi’s party said he would form a breakaway group that would back Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s fragile coalition in defiance of the media magnate, who faces expulsion from parl…
Africa fails to get Kenya ICC trials deferred at United Nations
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – An African bid to postpone the International Criminal Court trials of Kenya’s president and his deputy failed at the United Nations on Friday, which Kenya called a humiliation for Africa.
Netanyahu urges France not to weaken on Iran talks
PARIS (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed France on Friday not to weaken in its stance toward Iran in upcoming talks on the Islamic state’s nuclear program, days before President Francois Hollande is due to visit Israel.
Assad’s forces advance in northern Syria towards Aleppo
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad captured on Friday the last of three towns on the south-eastern approaches of Aleppo, state television said, advancing on the city after similar gains around the capital Damascus this week.
Eight killed in Pakistan in attack on Shi’ite procession
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Eight people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a Shi’ite Muslim religious procession in Pakistan on Friday, hospital officials said, in what appeared to be the latest incident of spiraling sectarian violence.
