Romania sentences transport minister to jail for graft
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s Transport Minister Relu Fenechiu was handed a five year prison sentence for corruption on Friday, becoming the country’s first government minister convicted while in office.
South American bloc to send tough message to U.S. on spying, Snowden
MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) – South American leaders planned to send a tough message to Washington on Friday over allegations of U.S. spying in the region and to defend their right to offer asylum to fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Indian leader’s ‘puppy’ remark triggers new controversy over riots
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian Hindu nationalist leader and possible prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi triggered an uproar on Friday over a remark he made in an interview about deadly communal riots in Gujarat state in 2002.
Portugal opposition wants bailout renegotiation
LISBON (Reuters) – The opposition Socialists demanded a renegotiation of Portugal’s bailout terms on Friday, raising a hurdle to a cross-party pact the president says is needed to end the euro zone country’s dependence on international funding next yea…
Swiss banks seek permission to send data in U.S. probe: sources
ZURICH (Reuters) – Credit Suisse and Julius Baer are among five Swiss banks which have sought government approval to hand data to U.S. prosecutors in a bid to reach settlements in a long-running tax dispute, four sources familiar with the matter said.
Mali’s rush to post-war election raises fears of further strife
DAKAR/GAO, Mali (Reuters) – Mali’s presidential hopefuls kicked off campaigning this week for a July 28 election intended to draw a line under a coup and an Islamist uprising, despite concerns that a rushed poll may sow the seeds of future strife.
Portugal junior coalition head says crisis can be overcome
LISBON (Reuters) – The head of Portugal’s junior coalition party said on Friday the government wants to overcome the current political crisis in order to conclude the country’s bailout plan in June 2014 and urged negotiations with all political parties…
Venice flood barrier executives arrested in massive fraud swoop
ROME (Reuters) – Police conducted dawn raids on Friday on companies across Italy linked to the construction of Venice’s flood barrier, arresting seven people suspected of rigging lucrative contracts for the multi-billion euro project.
Egypt’s PM picks leftist politician as deputy
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s interim authorities have nominated lawyer Ziad Bahaa El-Din, who is a member of the leftist Egyptian Social Democratic Party, as deputy prime minister, Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said on Friday.
In rural Syria, a rare peace threatened by sectarian war
HOMS COUNTRYSIDE, Syria (Reuters) – For months, the western rural region of Homs was an unusual model of coexistence in Syria’s brutal two-year-old civil war. Now, it risks becoming a dark episode in the country’s deepening sectarian conflict.
