Al Qaeda plan to ‘change face of history’ led to U.S. scare: Yemen
SANAA (Reuters) – A vow made in a phone call by the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to carry out an attack that would “change the face of history” lay behind this month’s closures of many Western embassies, Yemen’s president said.
Suspicious fires burn Brazil Indian land; retaliation suspected
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Fires have destroyed a fifth of Brazil’s Maraiwatsede indigenous reserve in what some officials suspect is a revenge attack by non-Indians who were evicted from the soybean- and cattle-producing region late last year.
Venice gondolier in fatal crash tests positive for drugs
ROME (Reuters) – A gondolier involved in a crash on Venice’s Grand Canal that left a German dead and his three-year-old daughter seriously injured has tested positive for drugs, police said on Friday.
White House repeats Obama position of no U.S. troops in Syria
VESTAL, New York (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and his advisers are still studying how to respond to an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria, but the White House reiterated the president’s position on Friday that he did not expect to send tro…
Thousands gather in Romania for Roma king’s funeral
SIBIU, Romania (Reuters) – Thousands of people gathered in the Romanian city of Sibiu on Friday for the funeral of self-appointed Roma king Florin Cioaba, who died at the weekend.
Insight: U.N.’s Mali task is state-building as much as peacekeeping
BAMAKO/KIDAL, Mali (Reuters) – The U.N. is being dragged into a mission in Mali likely to involve state-building as much as peacekeeping, as France looks to reduce its military footprint in the vast and poor Sahel state after defeating an Islamist rebe…
U.N. chief wants ‘thorough, impartial, prompt’ Syria chemical inquiry
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday he intends to conduct a “thorough, impartial and prompt investigation” into the latest alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria’s civil war.
Colombia FARC pause talks to study referendum proposal
HAVANA (Reuters) – Colombia’s Marxist FARC rebels declared a pause in peace talks on Friday to take time to study a bill proposed by President Juan Manuel Santos that would call a referendum on any agreements that would bring an end to the five-decade …
Syrian opposition says will ensure safety of U.N. inspectors
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Syria’s opposition said on Friday it would ensure the safety of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors in areas of Syria it controls and said it was critical that they reached the site of an alleged gas attack near Damascus within 48 hou…
Smuggling bonanza on Turkish border as Syrian war drags on
KUSAKLI, Turkey (Reuters) – Each night, a stream of beaten-up cars and trucks weighed down with blue jerry cans rumbles along the muddy lane, ferrying fuel smuggled into Turkey from over the border in Syria.
