Syria’s chemical weapons program was built to counter Israel
AMSTERDAM/AMMAN (Reuters) – Syria, defeated by Israel in three wars and afraid its arch enemy had gained a nuclear arsenal, began in earnest to build a covert chemical weapons program three decades ago, aided by its neighbors, allies and European chemi…
German challenger accuses Merkel of ‘one-dimensional’ leadership
BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel’s center-left challenger in elections later this year accused the German chancellor on Tuesday of “one-dimensional” leadership in the euro zone crisis and of failing to make Germany more pro-active on the broader world …
Russia’s Putin will back ban on adoptions by same-sex couples
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin voiced support on Tuesday for a planned ban on adoptions by foreign same-sex couples and dismissed Western criticism of Russia’s treatment of gay people.
Suicide bomber dies in failed attack in northern Mali
BAMAKO (Reuters) – A suspected Islamist suicide bomber blew himself up but caused no other casualties in an attack in the northern Malian city of Kidal, the bastion of Tuareg separatist MNLA rebels, witnesses said on Tuesday.
No safe way out as Syrian forces grind down besieged Qusair
BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) – As Syrian government forces try to grind down rebel resistance in the besieged town of Qusair, trapped civilians have had to choose between sheltering from the bombs or risking a 100 km hike to safety.
Relatives scuffle with police after China fire kills 120
DEHUI, China (Reuters) – Relatives of workers killed as fire engulfed a chicken processing plant in rural northeast China blocked traffic and scuffled with police on Tuesday, demanding answers to one of China’s worst industrial disasters in recent year…
West Africa states to adopt anti-piracy code, maybe this month: IMO
LILLESTROEM, Norway (Reuters) – West African heads of state will meet, maybe as soon as this month, to adopt a code to fight growing piracy in their coastal waters that would include use of arrests, prosecutions and seizures of ships, the U.N. shipping…
Russian judge grants jury trial in murder of Kremlin critic
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Five men accused of killing journalist Anna Politkovskaya were granted the right on Tuesday to be tried by jury for one of post-Communist Russia’s most notorious unsolved murders.
Powers set to press Iran on nuclear inquiry: diplomats
VIENNA (Reuters) – China and Russia are expected to join four Western powers in voicing deep concern about Iran’s atomic activities this week and pressing it to cooperate with a stalled inquiry by the U.N. nuclear agency, diplomats said on Tuesday.
In Afghanistan, grief for a husband who shouldn’t have died
KHOSH GOMBAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Whenever Bibi Laila heard the all-too-familiar sound of a bomb blast in Jalalabad, she did not worry – her husband worked for the famously impartial Red Cross, and would never be a target.
