Syria struggles to tap frozen funds for food tenders
ABU DHABI/HAMBURG (Reuters) – Syria’s efforts to step up food purchases are being thwarted by sellers unwilling to risk delays in payments from frozen foreign bank accounts.
Tunisian Islamists accept union plan to resolve crisis
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s governing Islamists edged closer to negotiations with secular opponents on Thursday by agreeing in principle to a plan for a transition toward new elections proposed by the powerful trade unions.
Bodies still being found after alleged Syria chemical attack: opposition
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Bodies are still being discovered after an alleged chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus that killed hundreds of people and the death toll will rise, a Syrian opposition spokesman said on Thursday.
Britain is a more modest military power, new defense chief says
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain should have lower expectations of its military power because government spending cuts mean it will not be able to fight every potential war it faces, the new head of its armed forces said.
Czech president to dissolve parliament on August 28 to trigger snap election
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech President Milos Zeman will formally dissolve the lower house of parliament on August 28, his spokeswoman said on Thursday, setting the stage for an early election that could hand power to a leftist, pro-European government.
China says U.N. chemical inspectors should be objective in Syria
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Thursday that U.N. chemical weapons experts should be objective and “fully consult” with the Syrian government in their work, after Syria’s opposition accused government forces of using such weapons in an attack on civ…
Russian court rejects opposition leader’s bid to oust election rival
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court rejected an attempt by opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Thursday to have his main pro-Kremlin rival thrown out of Moscow’s mayoral election race.
China makes big show of Bo trial, but it’s still just theater
BEIJING (Reuters) – With detailed online transcripts carried by China’s version of Twitter, Beijing is making an unprecedented effort to show its people that the trial of ousted politician Bo Xilai is fair and above board, but the court case is little …
Rampant police corruption harms Liberia’s progress: report
WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Rampant police corruption is impeding Liberia’s development a decade after its 14-year civil war ended, and abuses should be reined in as the United Nations scales back its presence in the West African …
Britain says Zimbabwe vote not credible as Mugabe is sworn in
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Thursday that the re-election of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe could not be deemed credible without an independent investigation into allegations of voting irregularities.
