Venezuelan socialists win 54 percent of mayors’ vote
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s ruling Socialist Party and allies took 10 percentage points more votes than opposition rivals in Sunday’s election for mayors that was a test of strength for President Nicolas Maduro, final results showed on Friday.
Kerry says Israeli-Palestinian deal possible by end-April
TEL AVIV, Israel (Reuters) – Shrugging off gloomy predictions of failure, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Israelis and Palestinians remained committed to peace talks and were on course to wrap up a full deal by April.
Gunmen kill Iranian gas workers in Iraq: witnesses
BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) – Masked gunmen killed 18 people, most of them Iranians, working on a gas pipeline outside the northeastern Iraqi town of Muqdadiya on Friday, witnesses and officials said.
World watching, will act on Central African Republic crimes: U.N.
BANGUI (Reuters) – The United Nations on Friday warned groups carrying out atrocities in the Central African Republic the world was watching and would hold them to account, after the killings of hundreds of people, mainly civilians.
Syrian opposition seeks more help from abroad, warns of chaos
LONDON (Reuters) – Syrian opposition leaders called on Western and Arab allies on Friday to give them funding to reorganize their forces after Islamist fighters seized some of their weapons.
New leader Renzi boosts support for Italy’s main ruling party
ROME (Reuters) – The election of Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi as the new leader of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party (PD), the biggest in the ruling coalition, has boosted support for the bloc by six percentage points nationally, a poll showed on Fri…
U.S., Chinese warships narrowly avoid collision in South China Sea
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. guided missile cruiser operating in international waters in the South China Sea was forced to take evasive action last week to avoid a collision with a Chinese navy ship maneuvering nearby, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a…
Crowd breaks through barrier on Mandela’s last day of lying in state
PRETORIA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of mourners, some breaking through police barriers, flocked to South Africa’s central government buildings on Friday to say a personal goodbye to anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela on the final day of his lying in…
Qaeda rebels seize 120 Syrian Kurds near Turkish border: watchdog
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamist rebels linked to al Qaeda kidnapped at least 120 Kurdish civilians on Friday from a village near the Turkish border in Aleppo province, a monitoring group said.
Spain targets political parties with new anti-corruption law
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s government proposed a law on Friday to control more tightly the financial activities of political parties, after corruption scandals in recent years involving both left and right.
