Exclusive: U.S. congressional hurdles lifted on arming Syrian rebels
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will move forward with a plan for the United States to arm the struggling Syrian rebels after some congressional concerns were eased, officials said on Monday.
Iran condemns EU’s blacklisting of Hezbollah
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran condemned on Tuesday the European Union’s decision to put the armed wing of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on its terrorism blacklist and said the move was “contrary to all political and legal norms, surprising and unacceptabl…
U.S. Navy offers to help recover bombs from Great Barrier Reef
ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Navy on Tuesday offered Australia any help it wanted to retrieve four bombs mistakenly dropped inside the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef marine park last week.
Kazakhstan says oligarch’s wife could return to Italy: newspaper
ROME (Reuters) – Kazakhstan will let a dissident oligarch’s wife return to Italy as long as she is returned for trial if necessary, an Italian newspaper reported on Tuesday, the latest twist in a case that has strained relations in Italy’s fragile coal…
Worthless land could prolong Spanish banks’ property woes
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish banks may have to swallow more losses to shake off the legacy of a property crash, real estate experts warn, as they struggle to sell plots of land that have ended up on their books and which are now worth less than many have…
Huge crowds in Brazil welcome pope back to home continent
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Pope Francis arrived in Brazil on Monday on his first foreign trip as pontiff and was swarmed by well-wishers as he drove into Rio de Janeiro, where more than one million people are expected to gather to see the first Latin A…
Ukrainian charged with murder of Muslim pensioner in Britain
LONDON (Reuters) – A Ukrainian man being questioned about explosions at mosques in central England was charged on Monday with murdering a Muslim pensioner.
China quakes death toll rises to 89, hundreds injured
BEIJING (Reuters) – The death toll from two earthquakes in China’s western Gansu province has climbed to 89, with more than 500 people severely injured, after 1,200 buildings collapsed and tens of thousands more were badly damaged, said the official Xi…
Explosion at Ternium Mexico steel plant kills two, wounds 12
MONTERREY (Reuters) – Two people were killed and 12 wounded in an explosion at Italian-Argentine steelmaker Ternium’s Guerrero plant in Nuevo Leon state in northern Mexico, the company said on Monday.
Colombia’s FARC offers arms, support to Catatumbo protesters
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s FARC rebels offered armed support to a rural protest in the Andean nation’s volatile northeast – a gesture that could ignite violence and increase friction as the Marxist group seeks a negotiated peace with the government….
