Iraqis go about their lives at mercy of nameless bombers
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The day after one of Iraq’s bloodiest days for months, shoppers and drivers packed the streets of Baghdad on Thursday, grimly aware that death can strike anywhere, any time.
Ukraine parliament pushes through sweeping anti-protest law
KIEV (Reuters) – Supporters of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich rammed a sweeping law through parliament on Thursday in an attempt to curb anti-government protests, sparking an outcry from the opposition and raising tensions on the streets.
India’s Rahul Gandhi to lead party campaign, not formal PM candidate
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Rahul Gandhi will lead the Congress party’s campaign for national elections due by May, but he will not be formally announced as the party’s candidate for prime minister, a senior party leader said on Thursday.
Suicide car bomb kills three in Hezbollah stronghold near Syria
HERMEL, Lebanon (Reuters) – A suicide car bomber killed three people in a Hezbollah stronghold on Lebanon’s northern border with Syria on Thursday, the latest sign of the Syrian civil war’s creeping impact on its small Mediterranean neighbor.
China steps up appeal to West in Japan propaganda battle
SHENYANG, China (Reuters) – China took reporters on Thursday on an unusual trip to a camp which housed Western prisoners of the Japanese in World War Two, a further sign of Beijing broadening efforts to drive a wedge between the West and Japan over its…
Critic of France’s Hollande says it with dung
PARIS (Reuters) – A critic of President Francois Hollande and France’s ruling elite dumped tonnes of horse manure in front of the national parliament building in Paris on Thursday in a pungent protest against French politics.
Catalonia defies Madrid with push for independence vote
MADRID (Reuters) – Local lawmakers in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia voted to seek a referendum on breaking away from Spain on Thursday, setting themselves up for a battle with an implacably opposed central government in Madrid.
North Korea hawkish and dovish ahead of South-U.S. drills
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea demanded that South Korea and the United States halt annual military drills due in February and March, saying they were a direct provocation, a statement that suggested a re-run of a sharp escalation in tension last year.
Thai graft body to probe rice subsidies, adding to PM’s woes amid protests
BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai anti-corruption agency said on Thursday it would investigate a money-guzzling rice subsidy program that has fuelled opposition to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, as protesters marched through the capital demanding she res…
Main Turkish opposition rejects constitutional reform proposal
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s largest opposition party said on Thursday it had rejected plans for constitutional changes to resolve a row over the judiciary, paving the way for the government to press ahead with its own moves to assert greater control ov…
