Turkish ruling party MP quits over row with cleric
ANKARA (Reuters) – A Turkish member of parliament and former international football player quit Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party on Monday in protest at a government row with an influential Islamic cleric, local media reported.
Scores killed in Iraq bloodshed ahead of Shi’ite holy day
TIKRIT (Reuters) – Suicide bombers and gunmen killed scores of people in Iraq on Monday in attacks mostly targeting Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims and official buildings ahead of a major Shi’ite ritual next week.
Quarter of Central African Republic’s population risks hunger: WFP
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Up to a quarter of the population of Central African Republic risks going hungry because of fighting between Christian and Muslim militia, and this number could increase, the chief of the U.N. World Food Programme said on Monda…
French police hold 21 in new horsemeat fraud ring
MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) – Police arrested 21 people in raids on the horsemeat industry across southern France on Monday on suspicion that horses used to develop medicines were sold fraudulently for food, police and industry officials said.
Chile’s Bachelet promises reforms after landslide election win
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Center-leftist Michelle Bachelet on Monday promised major tax and education reforms to help ease Chile’s social divisions, a day after she swept back to power with a huge majority in presidential elections.
South Sudan imposes curfew after “attempted coup”
JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir declared a curfew in the capital Juba on Monday after overnight clashes between rival factions of soldiers that he said were triggered by an “attempted coup”.
UK accuses Argentina of commercial bullying over Falklands drilling
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain on Monday accused Argentina of “bullying tactics” over what it said were baseless attempts by Buenos Aires to outlaw oil and gas drilling in the waters around the Falkland Islands, a disputed British Overseas Territory.
African migrants abandon Israeli detention center in protest march
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – More than 100 African migrants have abandoned an “open” Israeli detention center to try to march on Jerusalem in protest at a law allowing authorities to keep them in custody indefinitely, activists said on Monday.
Hundreds evacuated after gas explosion north of Mexico City
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Hundreds of people were evacuated after an explosion and fire that was caused by thieves trying to tap into a natural gas pipeline of state oil and gas company Pemex on the outskirts of Mexico City, emergency services said on Mo…
Lebanese, Israeli officers meet to restore border calm
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Senior Israeli, Lebanese and United Nations military officers met on Monday to defuse tension a day after a “rogue” Lebanese soldier shot dead an Israeli soldier on the border.
