Eiffel Tower reopens after bomb scare
PARIS (Reuters) – Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from the Eiffel Tower on Friday afternoon in response to a bomb alert, but it was found to be a scare and the Paris landmark reopened two hours later, police told Reuters.
Thousands rally for Mursi in Cairo, clashes in rural Egypt
CAIRO (Reuters) – Thousands of supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi rallied in a protest camp around a Cairo mosque on Friday, defying warnings from the army-installed government that they should give up and leave.
U.S. orders non-essential staff out of consulate in Pakistan’s Lahore
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – The U.S. government ordered the evacuation of non-essential staff from its consulate in the northeastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Friday due to the threat of attack, with the State Department also warning U.S. citizens not to t…
Frontrunner in Mali election runoff pledges to reinforce peace
BAMAKO (Reuters) – The frontrunner in Mali’s presidential election wound up his campaign on Friday with a promise to restore peace and dignity to the West African country scarred by a coup and Islamist uprising last year.
Israel seeks to negotiate planned EU curbs over ’67 borders
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel appealed to the European Union on Friday to rethink plans to withhold funds from Israeli organizations in the occupied territories, a shift in tone from earlier recrimination and retaliation.
Spain threatens unilateral steps in dispute over Gibraltar
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday threatened unilateral measures in a spat with Gibraltar over fisheries although he also said he hoped for talks soon with Britain about the disputed territory.
U.N. agency says it’s monitoring Fukushima and ready to help
VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. atomic energy agency is following closely the leak of radioactive water from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea and is ready to help out if asked, it said on Friday.
Czech house delays vote on dissolution, October election likely
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech lower house of parliament will postpone a vote on its dissolution – which will open the way to an early election – to August 20, from next Friday, to ensure enough deputies are present.
Zimbabwe’s MDC challenges Mugabe election win in court, wants re-run
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) challenged President Robert Mugabe’s landslide re-election in the country’s top court on Friday, calling for a re-run of the July 31 vote the MDC says was rigged.
Al Qaeda’s widening North African jihad confounds foes
ALGIERS/LONDON (Reuters) – Inquiries into the bloody assault on an Algerian gas plant are uncovering increasing evidence of contacts between the assailants and the jihadis involved in killing the U.S. ambassador to Libya nearly a year ago.
