Mandela still ‘serious but stable’, security tightened
PRETORIA (Reuters) – Former South African president and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela remained in a “serious but stable” condition in a Pretoria hospital on Tuesday after four days of treatment for a lung infection, the government said.
In Asia, dissidents worry that U.S. may share Prism data
SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) – Dissident and opposition groups in Asia, including those supported by the United States, are voicing concern over reports that Washington may have monitored and collected their conversations and e-mails.
Feisty Swiss minister shakes up secretive banks
ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, a lone woman in the male bastion of Swiss finance, is short of friends as she seeks to end the country’s reputation as a haven for tax cheats, but has a track record of getting her own way.
Germany has duty to boost domestic demand, says Merkel
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed on Tuesday to pursue her two-pronged approach of budget consolidation and strengthening domestic demand if she is re-elected in September, adding that Germany had a duty to support the euro zone economy…
Italy’s two mavericks left licking wounds after local elections
ROME (Reuters) – Sweeping wins for the center left in Italy’s local elections have sounded alarms for Silvio Berlusconi and Beppe Grillo, the mavericks who emerged as the big winners from February’s deadlocked national vote.
Austria begins withdrawing peacekeepers from Golan
VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria has begun withdrawing peacekeepers from the Golan Heights, winding down a four-decade mission due to spillover fighting from the Syrian civil war, the defense ministry said.
U.S. Prism spying program rattles EU lawmakers
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European lawmakers threatened on Tuesday to unpick data-sharing agreements with the United States, reacting furiously to reports that U.S. authorities have accessed emails and other personal data from leading Internet companies.
Swiss-U.S. tax spat goes to wire after parliament setback
ZURICH (Reuters) – A Swiss government plan to protect the country’s banks from U.S. criminal charges has been thrown into doubt by a Swiss parliamentary committee’s rejection of the proposed bill on Tuesday.
Cyber-snooping backlash builds in Berlin before Obama’s JFK trip
BERLIN (Reuters) – German outrage over a secret U.S. Internet spying program is building before a visit by Barack Obama next week, with senior members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government demanding a full explanation from the president when he land…
Khatami, reformists back Rohani in Iran presidential vote
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian reformists led by former President Mohammad Khatami have endorsed Hassan Rohani, the lone moderate contesting Friday’s election for the presidency, held by hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the past eight years.
