Portuguese Socialist leader says won’t budge on resistance to fiscal pact
LISBON (Reuters) – The leader of Portugal’s Socialists made plain on Thursday that his party would sustain long-term opposition to any cross-party agreement involving painful budget measures as the country’s EU/IMF bailout nears its completion.
Morocco’s king names new ministers to end deadlock
RABAT (Reuters) – Morocco’s King Mohamed named 19 new ministers on Thursday after the Islamist prime minister reached a deal to form a new coalition and end months of deadlock in the North African kingdom, the state news agency said.
German minister says talks in Ukraine on Tymoshenko ‘complicated’
KIEV (Reuters) – Germany’s foreign minister on Thursday reported little progress in securing a quick release of Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko after meeting President Viktor Yanukovich, saying there were political and legal obstacles.
Children convicted of vandalism in Sudan riots: lawyer
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Four children and four adults were convicted on Thursday of vandalism during a week of deadly anti-government riots in Sudan, a defense lawyer said, the first judgments recorded in cases linked to the violence in the capital.
German Catholics take ‘luxury bishop’ scandal to pope
BERLIN (Reuters) – The head of Germany’s Roman Catholic Church said on Thursday he would discuss with Pope Francis a scandal over a bishop who has been criticized for splashing out on a luxury residence and accused of lying under oath about a first-cla…
Pakistan rearrests ex-president Musharraf over Red Mosque deaths
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan rearrested former president Pervez Musharraf on Thursday after accusations that he was personally responsible for the deaths of more than 100 people when he ordered commandos to storm the Red Mosque in 2007.
Norwegian citizen possibly involved in Kenya mall attack: Norway
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway said on Thursday that one of its citizens may have been involved in the attack on a Kenyan shopping mall last month which killed at least 67 people and was claimed by Somali Islamist militants.
Guatemalan policeman cleared of prison murder in Austrian trial
VIENNA (Reuters) – A former police official in Guatemala was cleared of abetting the murder of seven prisoners on Thursday at a trial in Austria, which has granted him political asylum.
Kurdish rebels say Turkish reforms ‘disappoint’, weigh ceasefire
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Kurdish militants are considering whether to maintain their ceasefire after saying Turkish political reforms aimed at bolstering democracy had failed to address their grievances.
Iraq executes 42 ‘terrorists’, including woman, as violence worsens
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq executed 42 people, including a woman, for mass killings and other “terrorism” offences over two days this week, the justice ministry and the United Nations said on Thursday after a surge in sectarian violence.
