Initial U.S., allied intelligence assessment: Syrian forces used chemical weapons
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. and allied intelligence agencies have made a preliminary assessment that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons to attack an area near Damascus this week and that the act likely had high-level approval from President…
U.N. official due in Syria to push for chemical experts’ access
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday he intends to conduct a “thorough, impartial and prompt investigation” into the latest alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, an issue his top disarmament official will rai…
Colombia FARC pause talks to study referendum proposal
HAVANA/BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s Marxist FARC rebels declared a pause in peace talks on Friday to consider a bill proposed by President Juan Manuel Santos that would call a for a popular vote on any agreements that would bring an end to the five-de…
Syrian opposition says it has smuggled attack samples out of Syria
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A senior member of Syria’s opposition coalition said on Friday opponents of President Bashar al-Assad had smuggled samples from victims of an alleged chemical weapons attack out of Syria for testing by experts.
Thousands of Bahrainis march peacefully for democratic reforms
MANAMA (Reuters) – Thousands of Bahrainis were allowed to march peacefully outside Manama calling for democratic reforms on Friday, 10 days after police cracked down on scattered protests organized by an online group inspired by recent demonstrations i…
Libya oil port blockade reflects national disarray
TUNIS (Reuters) – The regional unrest blocking Libyan oil ports is a microcosm of the disarray plaguing the country and sapping the authority of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan’s shaky central government, Libyan and foreign analysts say.
Al Qaeda plan to ‘change face of history’ led to U.S. scare: Yemen
SANAA (Reuters) – A vow made in a phone call by the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to carry out an attack that would “change the face of history” lay behind this month’s closures of many Western embassies, Yemen’s president said.
Suspicious fires burn Brazil Indian land; retaliation suspected
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Fires have destroyed a fifth of Brazil’s Maraiwatsede indigenous reserve in what some officials suspect is a revenge attack by non-Indians who were evicted from the soybean- and cattle-producing region late last year.
Venice gondolier in fatal crash tests positive for drugs
ROME (Reuters) – A gondolier involved in a crash on Venice’s Grand Canal that left a German dead and his three-year-old daughter seriously injured has tested positive for drugs, police said on Friday.
White House repeats Obama position of no U.S. troops in Syria
VESTAL, New York (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and his advisers are still studying how to respond to an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria, but the White House reiterated the president’s position on Friday that he did not expect to send tro…
