Can Merkel really be surprised the NSA spied on her?
BERLIN (Reuters) – When Angela Merkel was growing up in communist East Germany, she recalls her parents getting nervous whenever she talked for too long on the phone. “Hang up! The Stasi is listening and it’s all being recorded,” warned her mother, acc…
Defiant Israel returns to U.N. rights forum
GENEVA (Reuters) – Israel appeared before the main United Nations human rights body on Tuesday, ending a 20-month boycott of the Geneva forum which it accuses of bias against the Jewish state.
Syrian deputy PM dismissed after U.S. talks
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s deputy prime minister, Qadri Jamil, was dismissed on Tuesday for leaving the country and acting without government permission after meeting U.S. officials in Switzerland, state media said.
Central Bank falls victim to Libya’s rampant crime, anarchy
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Gunmen rob millions from Libya’s central bank. Boatloads of protesters storm an oil terminal like pirates. Tribesmen block a port – and contradict the prime minister when he tells the nation it will reopen soon.
Sudan arrests seven university professors in crackdown on protests
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudanese authorities arrested seven university professors, a human rights lawyer said on Monday, extending a crackdown on opposition activists after fuel price increases touched off the country’s worst unrest for years.
Egypt arrests al Qaeda militant previously jailed for Sadat murder
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian authorities have arrested an Islamist militant jailed over the assassination of Anwar Sadat, for plotting bomb attacks on behalf of al Qaeda since his release from prison in 2012, security sources said on Tuesday.
Iraq’s Maliki to seek U.S. arms, role on Iran and Syria
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki flew to Washington on Tuesday, seeking urgent military supplies to fight an upsurge in sectarian violence spilling over the Syrian border.
Pistorius to face additional gun charges in murder trial
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius will face two additional gun-related charges at his trial for the murder of his girlfriend due to start in March next year, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
German SPD urges fast renewables reform in coalition talks
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) will push for a quick reform of incentives for green energy in any deal to share power with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, documents showed on Tuesday.
Turkey realizes Ottoman dream with rail tunnel linking Europe to Asia
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey opened the world’s first underwater rail link between two continents on Tuesday, connecting Asia and Europe and allowing Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to realize a project dreamt up by Ottoman sultans more than a century ago…
