Syrian rebel sheikh calls for war on Assad’s Alawite heartland
AMMAN (Reuters) – An influential Islamist cleric turned rebel commander urged Syrian insurgents on Wednesday to focus their war on President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite heartland to create a “balance of terror” and help turn the tide of the conflict.
Washington vilified on both sides of Egypt’s divide
CAIRO (Reuters) – Pictures of Barack Obama have popped up all over Cairo. Some have his faced crossed out in paint. Heavy black beards are daubed onto others.
Hungary promises teachers 34 percent pay hike, with more to come
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary will raise the pay of 150,000 teachers from September by an average 34 percent and give further hikes every year until 2017, a government minister said on Wednesday.
Russia says Syrian opposition blocking peace conference
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Syrian opposition leader is undermining chances for proposed peace talks by saying that foes of President Bashar al-Assad will only attend if they make military headway first, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesda…
Berlusconi ruling shakes Italy government
ROME (Reuters) – Silvio Berlusconi’s party boycotted a summit of Italy’s fragile coalition government and blocked parliamentary activity on Wednesday in protest against a supreme court decision to fast track a ruling that could ban him from public offi…
Italy investigating deportation of Kazakh oligarch’s wife
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has ordered an investigation into the deportation in May of the wife and daughter of fugitive Kazakh oligarch and dissident Mukhtar Ablyazov as questions about its legality multiply.
Pakistan president’s close aide killed in suicide attack
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – One of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s most trusted aides was killed in a suspected suicide bombing in the volatile port city of Karachi on Wednesday as he stopped his armored vehicle to buy some fruit, police said.
Former South African leader named head of U.N. Women
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations named former South African deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to head the gender equality body U.N. Women on Wednesday, after former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet stepped down to pursue another p…
Libyan government takes back ministry from armed group
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The Libyan government has taken back control of its interior ministry from an armed group that had besieged the building for a week, an official said on Wednesday.
Merkel defends NSA cooperation before minister flies to U.S.
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended Germany’s cooperation with U.S. intelligence, dismissing comparisons of its techniques to those used in communist East Germany in an attempt to ease tensions a day before talks on the thorny issu…
