Bulgarians protests over media magnate as security chief
SOFIA (Reuters) – Thousands of people rallied on Friday to protest against the appointment of a media magnate as Bulgaria’s new security chief in a show of discontent after disputed elections.
Czech leader clings on after close aide charged with graft
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas was clinging to office on Friday after prosecutors accused a close aide of being at the center of a corrupt web of political favors and secret surveillance.
European rights body says Hungary changes threaten courts
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – A key European rights think-tank, the Venice Commission, sharply criticized Hungary’s recent amendments to its constitution on Friday, saying some provisions breached democratic principles.
Erdogan makes conciliatory move to end Turkish protests
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told protesters on Friday he would put redevelopment plans for an Istanbul park on hold until a court rules, striking a markedly more conciliatory tone after two weeks of fierce anti-gov…
U.N. says peacekeeper killed in shelling in Sudan oil region
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A United Nations peacekeeper was killed on Friday in Sudan’s main oil region when shells struck a United Nations logistics base, a U.N. spokesman said.
Analysis: Transforming Syria’s war could take more than arming rebels
WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – – If the United States and allies genuinely want to change the course of the war in Syria, it may take considerably more than simply supplying the faltering opposition with weaponry.
Norway becomes first NATO country to draft women into military
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s parliament voted overwhelmingly on Friday to conscript women into its armed forces, becoming the first European and first NATO country to make military service compulsory for both genders.
Far from Iran election, former guerrillas lobby Washington
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For decades, an Iranian dissident group has seemed to be on the wrong side of history. Suppressed by both the Shah of Iran and then the ayatollahs who deposed him in 1979, its supporters have faced prison, death and exile, and we…
Analysis: Italy’s Grillo facing showdown as 5-Star mutiny swells
ROME (Reuters) – Beppe Grillo, the fiery comic whose populist 5-Star Movement stunned Italy by winning a quarter of the votes in February’s election, is facing his biggest test since the vote with rebellion brewing among his novice lawmakers.
Protests hit Brazil’s biggest cities, adding to unrest
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Small but violent protests in several Brazilian cities this week have added to a sense of growing unrest in Brazil at a time when inflation, crime and President Dilma Rousseff’s popularity are all taking a turn for the worse.
