Battles rage in Syria ahead of talks at the United Nations
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian warplanes struck rebel-held areas and clashes between militants and government forces continued unabated on Wednesday, residents and opposition groups said, while key powers met to forge a deal that would eliminate Syrian chem…
French pension reform goes to cabinet amid criticism
PARIS (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande sent to cabinet on Wednesday a reform of France’s pension system which has prompted little street protest at home but which international critics say does not go far enough.
Americans, Europeans oppose Syria intervention: poll
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A majority of Europeans and Americans strongly oppose their countries intervening militarily in Syria’s 30-month-old civil war, according to a transatlantic poll published on Wednesday.
Green activists arrested, shots fired at Russian Arctic rig protest
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian coast guards fired warning shots and arrested two Greenpeace activists who scaled the Prirazlomnaya Arctic oil platform in a protest over the potential threat to the environment from operations slated to start this year.
Egypt partially reopens Gaza crossing after week-long closure
GAZA (Reuters) – Egypt partially reopened its border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a week after it was closed in response to a deadly attack on an Egyptian military headquarters near the frontier.
EU piles pressure on Croatia over extradition law
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union moved a step closer to imposing financial sanctions on Croatia on Wednesday, frustrated that Zagreb has failed to make its extradition laws comply with EU legislation.
Swedish government woos voters with pre-election tax cuts
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s center-right government bet on a new round of income tax cuts in its 2014 budget on Wednesday to boost growth and win it a third term in office in elections next year.
Syrian artists find refuge and acclaim in neighbouring Lebanon
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Splashes of color on a canvas painted by Imad Habbab depict the moment of an explosion in Syria’s civil war.
Iran sees ‘opening’ on nuclear diplomacy: official
DUBAI (Reuters) – An Iranian official said on Wednesday that he saw an “opening” in Iran’s nuclear dispute with the West, a news agency reported, in the latest signal that Tehran expects fresh movement to break a decade-old deadlock.
Senegal-born chemist hopes to be first black German MP
HALLE, Germany (Reuters) – More than two decades after two far-right youths attacked him there and smashed his glasses, Karamba Diaby hopes to represent the economically ailing east German city of Halle as the first black member of Germany’s parliament…
