Italy presses Kerry over U.S. surveillance -source
ROME (Reuters) – Secretary of State John Kerry promised on Wednesday that U.S. authorities would look into whether their intelligence services may have illegally intercepted Italian telecoms data, an Italian government source said.
U.S.-Saudi diplomatic tension unlikely to fracture business ties
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s frustration with its main ally the United States over Middle East policy will not harm business relations or oil sales, despite a threat from its spy chief of a “major shift” in ties, businessmen and economists say.
Chinese police injured in clash with villagers
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese police officers were injured in clashes with villagers on Wednesday in southwestern Yunnan province, state media said, in the latest incident of unrest over what appeared to be a land dispute.
Syrian army siege east of capital tightens as food, supplies dwindle
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s army has sealed the few remaining smuggling routes into the besieged eastern suburbs of Damascus, activists and aid workers said on Wednesday, tightening a chokehold on rebel-held areas near the capital.
Iran suggests will spare man who cheated the gallows
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s justice minister said a move to execute a convicted Iranian drug offender who has already survived a hanging is ill-advised, suggesting he would not face capital punishment again.
Fearing retribution, Syrian minorities keep low profile in exile
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – In a small park on the edge of old Istanbul’s Eminonu square, women sit begging, Syrian passports in their outstretched hands, “Please help in the name of God” on sheets of paper at their feet.
India issues final show cause notice to AgustaWestland-govt official
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s defence ministry has issued a final “show cause” notice to AgustaWestland seeking to cancel a deal to buy a dozen helicopters and has given the company 21 days to reply, a government official said on Wednesday.
Analysis: Lack of crop rotation slowly turns Argentine Pampas into ‘sand’
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s key resource, its agricultural soils, are being depleted by lack of crop rotation as soy farming encroaches on areas once used for corn, wheat and cattle grazing, according to local experts and a government source.
Kuwait wants Saudis to take up U.N. Security Council seat
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwait is trying to persuade Saudi Arabia to take up the U.N. Security Council seat that Riyadh has spurned in protest at the world body’s failure to end the war in Syria, a senior Kuwaiti official said on Wednesday.
Monitors protest expulsion of 16 candidates for Afghan president
KABUL (Reuters) – The disqualification of 16 presidential candidates from Afghanistan’s presidential race prompted an outcry from independent monitors on Wednesday, while some victims accused the government of being behind the move.
