Syria denies former defense minister defects: state TV
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian state television said on Wednesday former defense minister Ali Habib had not left the country, denying reports of his defection.
Analysis: U.S. strike on Syria could derail Iran president’s master plan
DUBAI (Reuters) – If one thing could scuttle Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s big plan – to fix Iran’s economy by winning some relief from Western sanctions – a U.S. strike on Tehran’s ally Syria is it.
Italian rightists target black minister with bloody mannequins
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s far-right Forza Nuova party left three mannequins covered in fake blood at the front door of a city administrative office in Rome on Wednesday in the latest attack on Italy’s first black minister, Cecile Kyenge.
Gunmen kill 16 members of Shi’ite family in Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Gunmen shot dead at least 16 members of a Shi’ite Muslim family before blowing up their two neighboring homes south of the Iraqi capital overnight, police and medics said.
Putin says Snowden can feel safe in Russia
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin described the former U.S. intelligence contractor sought by Washington on espionage charges as a “strange guy” but said he could rest easy that he would not be handed over to U.S. authorities.
Putin presses US Congress over Syria, says Kerry lied
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday the U.S. Congress had no right to approve the use of force against Syria without a decision from the U.N. Security Council, and that doing so would be an “act of aggression”.
Berlusconi ups pressure as Senate decision on expulsion nears
ROME (Reuters) – Allies of Silvio Berlusconi stepped up pressure on the shaky coalition government of Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Wednesday, threatening to bring it down if the Senate votes to expel the former premier following his convictio…
Insight: West struggles to cope with online recruitment for Syria jihad
PARIS (Reuters) – “I am French,” explains the young man in the YouTube video carrying a Kalashnikov and wearing a kufiya cotton headdress as he sits in front of a waving black-and-white flag of al Qaeda.
“Don’t knows” may have it in 2014 Scottish independence vote
LONDON (Reuters) – With a year until Scotland’s referendum on independence, enough voters are “don’t knows” to swing the vote and only one in four are certain to vote for separating from Britain, according to an opinion poll on Wednesday.
South African gold miners’ union offers some compromise as strike bites
WESTONARIA, South Africa (Reuters) – A strike for higher pay hit production at most of South Africa’s gold mines on Wednesday, but the main union behind the stoppage said it was willing to relax some of its demands .
