U.N. receives document from Syria on joining chemical arms pact
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations said it received a document from Syria on Thursday on joining the global anti-chemical weapons treaty, something the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad promised as part of a deal to avoid U.S. a…
Assad says will abandon chemical arms once U.S. stops threats
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said he would only finalise plans to abandon his chemical arsenal when the United States stopped threatening to attack him, in an interview broadcast on Thursday.
U.S. warns Syria on stalling over chemical weapons, says retains military option
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Documents that Syria sent to the United Nations on joining the global anti-chemical weapons treaty as part of a deal to avoid U.S. air strikes cannot be a substitute for disarmament or a stalling tactic, the U.S. State Department…
Ex-CIA official seeks pardon in Italy over rendition
ROME (Reuters) – Former CIA Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady has asked Italy’s president to pardon him for kidnapping an Egyptian Muslim cleric under the U.S. “extraordinary rendition” program for which he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Estonia PM says voter bailout fatigue easing, open to new Greece bailout
TALLINN (Reuters) – Estonia, hailed as a poster child of fiscal prudence, is open to aiding Greece with a third bailout and helping other troubled euro zone nations, its prime minister said on Thursday.
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi says Polish path to democracy inspired her
WARSAW (Reuters) – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi told Polish democracy champion Lech Walesa on Thursday that she was inspired by how Poland had peacefully ended authoritarian rule and hoped her homeland would follow the same path to freedo…
New Iran envoy says hopes disputes with IAEA can be resolved
VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran will cooperate with the U.N. nuclear agency to find ways to “overcome existing issues once and for all”, Tehran’s new envoy said on Thursday, hinting at a more flexible approach under relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani…
Tritium levels reach new high at wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant
TOKYO (Reuters) – The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant said on Friday it found elevated readings of tritium in groundwater near tanks that are holding hundreds of metric tons of contaminated water at the site.
China sentences three to death for ‘violent terrorism’ in Xinjiang
BEIJING (Reuters) – A court in China’s restive far western region of Xinjiang sentenced three ethnic Uighurs to death on Thursday for acts of “violent terrorism”, including murder and being part of a terrorist organization, state media reported.
Assad: Syria to fulfil chemical weapons initiative if U.S. ends threats – agency
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Syria will fulfil an initiative to hand over its chemical weapons only when the United States stops threatening to strike Syria, RIA news agency quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying in a television interview.
