Russia escalates dispute with Belarus after CEO’s arrest
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia banned pork imports from Belarus on Friday, stepping up a diplomatic and trade war over the arrest of a Russian businessman and threatening to deepen the isolation of its former Soviet ally.
Ghana court rejects request to extradite Ivorian fugitive
ACCRA (Reuters) – A court in Ghana on Friday rejected a request to extradite a senior ally of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, saying the warrant issued by Ivorian authorities was politically motivated.
Sunni cleric implicitly endorses Western strike on Syria’s Assad
DOHA (Reuters) – A prominent Sunni Muslim cleric offered tacit support on Friday for any Western strike on Syria in response to an apparent chemical attack on civilians, suggesting foreign powers were God’s instrument for vengeance.
Analysis: Syria vote humiliates UK’s Cameron, strains special relationship
LONDON (Reuters) – He lost by just 13 votes, but Prime Minister David Cameron’s failure to win parliamentary approval to launch military action against Syria may place a question mark over Britain’s role in the world as well as his own career.
North Korea cancels trip by U.S. envoy seeking Bae’s release: U.S.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea canceled a planned trip for a U.S. envoy to travel to Pyongyang on Friday and Saturday to seek the release of imprisoned and ailing American missionary Kenneth Bae, the U.S. State Department said.
France says ready to act over Syria, despite British refusal
PARIS (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande said a British parliamentary vote against taking military action in Syria would not affect France’s will to act to punish Bashar al-Assad’s government, which it blamed for a chemical attack on civilians.
In landlocked South Sudan, one road is a lifeline – and a bottleneck
NIMULE, South Sudan (Reuters) – Almost two weeks after truck driver George Wala loaded building materials in the Kenyan port of Mombasa bound for a company in South Sudan he still hadn’t reached his destination.
French penal reform extends probation to ease jail crowding
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s government said on Friday it would extend and reinforce the use of probation by law to ease overcrowding in prisons and fight repeat offences, drawing heckles from conservatives who say the move is soft on criminals.
UK says Snowden leaks hurt its national security, could expose spies
LONDON (Reuters) – Leaks by a fugitive U.S. intelligence contractor have damaged Britain’s national security, and the data he gave journalists includes information that might expose the identities of British spies, a government official told the High C…
Turkey says no doubt Assad’s forces behind poison gas attack
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday intelligence gathered by Ankara left no doubt that the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were responsible for a poison gas attack near Damascus last week.
