Lebanese gunmen kidnap eight Syrians, demand hostage exchange
TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) – Gunmen kidnapped eight men from Syria’s Alawite minority as they crossed into northern Lebanon on Monday, residents and security sources said, in a bid to gain the release of a Sunni Muslim man believed to be held by Syrian…
U.N. General Assembly to vote on draft arms trade treaty?
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly is tentatively planning to vote on Tuesday on a draft treaty to regulate the $70 billion global trade in conventional arms.
South Africa’s Mandela visited by family after weekend improvement
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who is being treated in hospital for pneumonia, was visited by members of his family on Monday after doctors had reported an improvement in his condition over the weekend.
Ghost of Chavez dominates Venezuela election campaign
CARACAS (Reuters) – Weeks after his death, Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez still leads supporters in singing the national anthem.
March was bloodiest month in Syria war: rights group
BEIRUT (Reuters) – March was the bloodiest month yet in Syria’s two-year conflict, with more than 6,000 people killed, a third of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.
Turkey scraps flights to Armenia after Azeri resistance
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey has canceled the first ever scheduled Turkish flights to its long-time rival Armenia, days before the first plane was due to take off, officials have said, following fierce opposition from Turkey’s ally and energy partner Azer…
Ex-President Carter says China pressuring Nepal on Tibetans
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – China is putting pressure on Nepal to interrupt the flow of Tibetan refugees into the Himalayan nation, former United States President Jimmy Carter said on Monday.
Peace restored in stronghold of Kenya’s election loser Odinga
KISUMU, Kenya (Reuters) – Calm returned to the western Kenyan stronghold of defeated presidential candidate Raila Odinga on Monday after two days of running battles with police following the Supreme Court’s confirmation of his rival Uhuru Kenyatta as p…
Central bank to reopen in Central African Republic after coup
BANGUI (Reuters) – Central Africa’s regional central bank said it would reopen its branch in Bangui on Tuesday, and urged commercial lenders to do the same, offering a financial lifeline to cash-starved businesses a week after a coup.
Hamas law promotes gender segregation in Gaza schools
GAZA (Reuters) – New rules from the Education Ministry of the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip will bar men from teaching at girls’ schools and mandate separate classes for boys and girls from the age of nine.
