Bahrain king toughens anti-terrorism laws, rights groups cry foul
DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain’s King Hamad has toughened penalties in anti-terrorism laws before planned anti-government protests this month, approving proposals that have alarmed human rights groups which fear a crackdown on the demonstrations.
Libyan court sentences former Gaddafi minister to death
MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) – A former minister in the government of Muammar Gaddafi was sentenced to death on Wednesday for inciting violence against protesters during the uprising that led to the Libyan dictator’s overthrow in 2011, a lawyer said on Wed…
Dissident Kazakh Ablyazov faces extradition to Ukraine
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (Reuters) – Dissident Kazakh oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov, accused of embezzling up to $6 billion from a bank he ran, went before a judge in southern France on Thursday and could be extradited to Ukraine, court officials said.
Germany urges Egypt to avoid ‘selective justice’
CAIRO (Reuters) – Germany urged Egypt to avoid “the appearance of selective justice” on Thursday following the arrests of some senior leaders of deposed President Mohamed Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
Assad says sure he will defeat Syrian rebels
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday he was confident of victory against rebels in a devastating 28-month-old civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people and sent nearly two million fleeing abroad.
Russia says new Iran sanctions will not end nuclear dispute
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives to tighten sanctions against Iran would not help resolve the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program. Congress passed a bill on Wednesday that will cut Iran’s oil expo…
Insight: Street protests reveal both Bulgaria’s failure, success
SOFIA (Reuters) – Business executive Sasha Bezuhanova feels her life has come full circle.
Spain PM Rajoy says will toughen corruption laws
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told lawmakers on Thursday that his government would toughen up corruption laws and rules for the allocation of public contracts, in the wake of a corruption scandal.
Zimbabwe poll ‘seriously compromised’: ZESN monitors
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s leading domestic election monitoring agency cried foul on Thursday over this week’s poll, saying the credibility of the vote was “seriously compromised” by irregularities on polling day.
Rajoy says court will find no crime by him or his party
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told lawmakers on Thursday that the justice system would find that neither he nor his political party have committed any crime in an ongoing corruption scandal.
