Al Jazeera accuses Egypt authorities of intimidation campaign
DOHA (Reuters) – The pan-Arab Al Jazeera television network accused Egyptian authorities on Tuesday of a sustained campaign of intimidation against its staff, rejecting charges of pro-Islamist bias in its reporting on the crisis in Egypt.
Israel beefs up rocket defenses on Egypt border
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has boosted its rocket defenses near its southern border with Egypt to counter possible attacks from Islamist militants fighting security forces in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, Israeli officials said on Tuesday.
French minister orders police action over mayor’s Hitler remark to Roma
PARIS (Reuters) – The French interior minister has ordered police in western France to take action against a mayor and lawmaker who allegedly told a group of itinerant Roma, parked illegally near his town, that Hitler had not killed enough of them.
Two more AstraZeneca employees questioned in China
LONDON (Reuters) – Chinese police have questioned two more AstraZeneca employees in Shanghai, after a sales representative was taken away for questioning earlier, the British drug maker said on Tuesday.
Turkish troops kill civilian trying to cross into Syria
ANKARA (Reuters) – A Turkish border patrol killed one of eight civilians trying to cross illegally from Turkey into Syria on the tense frontier, the Turkish military said on Tuesday.
No tax rises of any kind in Germany, vows Merkel before election
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday she was against tax rises of any kind in Europe’s biggest economy if she is re-elected in September, a clear indication of where she expects the campaign to be fought.
In Egypt turmoil, start-up firms find ways to flourish
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s revolutions have been kind to Ahmed El-Kerdany. The young entrepreneur has raised millions of dollars of funding and kept his business growing through the country’s worst political and economic turmoil in decades.
China cracks down on building projects in anti-graft move
BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Tuesday ordered a five-year suspension of the construction of new official buildings, state media reported, in the latest move by President Xi Jinping to crack down on extravagance and pervasive corruption.
Al Qaeda militants flee Iraq jail in violent mass break-out
BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – Hundreds of convicts, including senior members of al Qaeda, broke out of Iraq’s Abu Ghraib jail as comrades launched a military-style assault to free them, authorities said on Monday.
Spain’s Rajoy to address corruption case in parliament on August 1
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will appear before parliament on August 1 to face questions over a growing corruption scandal in his ruling People’s Party, parliament sources told Reuters on Tuesday.