Nicaraguan assembly OKs $40 billion Chinese canal to rival Panama’s
MANAGUA (Reuters) – Nicaraguan lawmakers granted a 50-year concession to a Chinese company on Thursday for it to design, build and manage a shipping channel across the Central American nation that would compete with the Panama Canal.
Mandela’s health improving but condition still ‘serious’
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Former South African President and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela continues to recover from a lung infection but his condition remains serious, the South African government said on Thursday.
Iran vote could bring change of style, perhaps not substance
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran votes on Friday in a presidential election unlikely to result in seismic shifts in its troubled relations with the West and Gulf Arab neighbors, but which could bring a softening of the confrontational style personified by outgoi…
Deal to remove Northern Ireland sectarian walls precedes G8 meet
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain and Northern Ireland will unveil an agreement on Friday aimed at removing physical walls separating Catholic and Protestant communities in the British province over the next 10 years.
Obama considers Syria moves, Assad turns guns on north
BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama is deciding whether to take new action to help Syria’s rebels, the White House said on Thursday, while President Bashar al-Assad’s surging forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies turned their guns on th…
U.N. says more accountability needed on Afghanistan’s Kabulbank scandal
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – More people must be held accountable for the 2010 collapse of Afghanistan’s Kabulbank and robust action on asset recovery and financial regulation is essential to ease foreign donor worries and ensure continued aid, the Unite…
Turkey seeks negotiated end to anti-government protests
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the governor of Istanbul made what appeared to be final efforts to end two weeks of anti-government unrest by negotiation on Friday, meeting opponents of controversial plans to redev…
Chinese dissident to leave New York University shortly
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who left his home country last year and became a visiting scholar at New York University, will leave the school this summer but will likely remain in the United States, university officials said o…
Anti-G8 protests aim for London’s Canary Wharf banking district
LONDON (Reuters) – Activists plan a show of “civil disobedience” in the heart of London’s Canary Wharf financial district on Friday to protest against capitalism ahead of next week’s G8 summit which Britain is hosting.
Kuwait parliament condemns sectarian rhetoric over Syria
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwait’s parliament on Thursday condemned attempts to use the crisis in Syria to stoke sectarian tensions, calling for the government to crack down on “extremist behavior” and rhetoric in the Gulf Arab state.
