Sri Lankans think U.N. is biased, president tells rights chief
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the United Nations human rights chief on Friday that his people believe the U.N. is a biased organization, and a report she is due to release next month has already prejudged the country.
Car bombs kill 11 in northern Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Two car bombs killed 12 people and injured 10 in the northern Iraqi town of Tuz Khurmato on Friday, police and medical sources said.
Greece civil servants call strike for September 18, 19
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s umbrella trade union for the public sector called on Friday a 48-hour strike for the middle of next month to protest planned civil sector firings and transfers that form part of the country’s international bailout.
Russia escalates dispute with Belarus after CEO’s arrest
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia banned pork imports from Belarus on Friday, stepping up a diplomatic and trade war over the arrest of a Russian businessman and threatening to deepen the isolation of its former Soviet ally.
Ghana court rejects request to extradite Ivorian fugitive
ACCRA (Reuters) – A court in Ghana on Friday rejected a request to extradite a senior ally of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, saying the warrant issued by Ivorian authorities was politically motivated.
Sunni cleric implicitly endorses Western strike on Syria’s Assad
DOHA (Reuters) – A prominent Sunni Muslim cleric offered tacit support on Friday for any Western strike on Syria in response to an apparent chemical attack on civilians, suggesting foreign powers were God’s instrument for vengeance.
Analysis: Syria vote humiliates UK’s Cameron, strains special relationship
LONDON (Reuters) – He lost by just 13 votes, but Prime Minister David Cameron’s failure to win parliamentary approval to launch military action against Syria may place a question mark over Britain’s role in the world as well as his own career.
North Korea cancels trip by U.S. envoy seeking Bae’s release: U.S.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea canceled a planned trip for a U.S. envoy to travel to Pyongyang on Friday and Saturday to seek the release of imprisoned and ailing American missionary Kenneth Bae, the U.S. State Department said.
France says ready to act over Syria, despite British refusal
PARIS (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande said a British parliamentary vote against taking military action in Syria would not affect France’s will to act to punish Bashar al-Assad’s government, which it blamed for a chemical attack on civilians.
In landlocked South Sudan, one road is a lifeline – and a bottleneck
NIMULE, South Sudan (Reuters) – Almost two weeks after truck driver George Wala loaded building materials in the Kenyan port of Mombasa bound for a company in South Sudan he still hadn’t reached his destination.
