Merkel’s challenger wells up after yet more strife
BERLIN (Reuters) – Peer Steinbrueck, the main opposition challenger to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, choked up during an interview on Sunday when he was asked about what motivated him to carry on despite all the pressure and criticism of his campaig…
German spy agency plans to boost Internet monitoring: Spiegel
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s foreign intelligence agency (BND) plans to spend 100 million euros expanding its monitoring of the Internet, the weekly Der Spiegel reported on Sunday, saying the money would go on staff and technology.
North Korea wants to hold high-level talks with U.S.
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea on Sunday offered high-level talks with the United States to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula, but the White House said that any talks must involve Pyongyang taking action to show it is moving toward scrapp…
Sudan, South Sudan to take steps to lower oil tension
CAIRO (Reuters) – Sudan and South Sudan are prepared to take steps, brokered by the African Union, to try to avert an oil crisis between them amid accusations from both sides that the other is supporting insurgencies in their territories.
Car bombs, shootings kill 30 across Iraq
BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – Attacks across Iraq targeting mainly Shi’ite Muslims killed at least 30 people on Sunday, police and medics said, intensifying fears of a descent into all-out sectarian war.
Al Qaeda group confirms death of Abou Zeid and another leader
NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s North African wing (AQIM) on Sunday confirmed the death of two of its senior commanders in Mali earlier this year, veteran jihadist Abdelhamid Abou Zeid and brigade commander Abdallah Al Chinguetti, Mauritania’s ANI ne…
Rebel brigades check loyalist advances in Aleppo: opposition
AMMAN (Reuters) – Rebel brigades fought Hezbollah-backed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in and around Syria’s commercial hub of Aleppo on Sunday, trying to claw back territory lost to an assault that threatens the opposition’s grip on the ci…
Bible-burning Egyptian cleric jailed for 11 years
CAIRO (Reuters) – A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian Muslim preacher to 11 years in jail for blasphemy on Sunday for burning a Bible during a protest last year outside the U.S. embassy.
Germany’s Left party launches uncompromising election fight
DRESDEN (Reuters) – Germany’s Left party set an election platform attacking capitalism head on this weekend, avowing old school socialism and making any later coalition pact with the mainstream opposition seem all but impossible.
Czech PM faces showdown as coalition partners waver
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Some members of the Czech Republic’s governing coalition are considering ditching Prime Minister Petr Necas after his closest aide was charged with bribery and ordering illegal surveillance, his deputy said on Sunday.
