Kerry plans return to Middle East after visit yields no deal
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ended a shuttle diplomacy mission on Sunday without an agreement on resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but said gaps had been narrowed and he would return to the region soon.
German Social Democrats mull ruling out coalition with Merkel: media
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s opposition Social Democrats are considering formally ruling out a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats after September’s election, according to media reports on Sunday.
Ex-Chad leader Habre arrested ahead of trial in Senegal
DAKAR (Reuters) – Hissene Habre, Chad’s former leader, was arrested on Sunday in Senegal, where he has been living in freely in exile for 22 years despite accusations of political killing and torture during his time in power, a court spokesman said.
Mired in recession, Croatia joins troubled EU
ZAGREB (Reuters) – Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union at midnight on Sunday, passing a milestone in its recovery from war but anxious over the troubled state of its economy and the bloc it is joining.
Obamas tour Mandela’s island jail before Africa speech
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama and his family visited South Africa’s bleak former prison of Robben Island on Sunday to pay tribute to ex-inmate Nelson Mandela, now critically ill in hospital.
At least 30 killed by fuel truck explosion in Uganda
KAMPALA (Reuters) – At least 30 people were killed and scores more injured when a fuel tanker exploded on a highway in Uganda, a major transit route for fuel heading from Kenya to land-locked east African states, a police spokesman said on Sunday.
Kazakhstan trade trip poses human rights test for UK’s Cameron
ATYRAU, Kazakhstan (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron flew into Kazakhstan on Sunday to help inaugurate the world’s costliest oil project and seal new business deals, but faced immediate pressure to denounce the country’s poor human right…
Arrested Vatican monsignor felt he could act with impunity: judge
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A senior Catholic cleric arrested in a plot to smuggle tens of millions of dollars into Italy controlled vast amounts of money and felt he could act with impunity because of his connections to the Vatican bank, according to a j…
Blast in Pakistani city of Peshawar kills 14
(Reuters) – Fourteen people were killed in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday when a powerful roadside bomb attack narrowly missed a passing convoy of security forces but ravaged a busy market area, police said.
Thai PM sacks commerce minister after rice fiasco
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s commerce minister was sacked on Sunday after coming under fire over a rice intervention scheme that resulted in huge losses to the budget and saw the country lose its place as the world’s top rice exporter.