Talks resume as Israel frees Palestinians, pursues settlements
JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday to keep U.S.-sponsored peacemaking on course for a second round of talks, but diplomacy remained dogged by Israeli plans for more Jewish homes on land the Pale…
U.N. says still negotiating with Syria on chemical weapons inquiry
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. experts are ready to visit Syria to investigate claims of chemical weapons use during the country’s two-year civil war, but a deal has not yet been reached with the Syrian government on safety assurances, the United Nati…
Bahrain tightens security ahead of planned protests
MANAMA (Reuters) – Bahrain has tightened security around restive Shi’ite Muslim villages in an effort to block anti-government protests planned for Wednesday by activists pressing the Sunni Muslim ruling family to allow democracy.
Pro-Mursi protester shot dead as Egypt standoff intensifies
CAIRO (Reuters) – One Muslim Brotherhood member was shot dead and at least 11 people wounded in Egypt on Tuesday, security sources said, with the Islamist group accusing plain clothes police of firing on their march.
Tunisian secularists and Islamists in rival rallies, no clashes
TUNIS (Reuters) – Around 40,000 secularists rallied in Tunis on Tuesday to call for the departure of the Islamist-led ruling coalition, but there were no reported clashes with another demonstration by thousands of Islamists elsewhere in the Tunisian ca…
Palestinian prisoner release on track after court ruling
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel was set to free 26 Palestinian prisoners within hours to help underpin renewed peace talks, after its High Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal against their release by relatives of some of the Israelis they killed.
One pro-Mursi protester shot dead in Cairo march
CAIRO (Reuters) – A supporter of Egypt’s deposed president, Mohamed Mursi, was shot dead during a protest march in Cairo on Tuesday, two security sources said.
Kerry visit to Brazil overshadowed by NSA spying controversy
BRASILIA (Reuters) – The United States pledged on Tuesday that Brazil and other allies will get answers about American communications surveillance aimed at thwarting terrorism, but gave no indication it would change the way it gathers such information….
Egypt restores ex-generals’ role in provinces
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s interim president named at least 18 new provincial governors on Tuesday, half of them retired generals, in a shake-up that pushed out Muslim Brotherhood members and restored the influence of men from army and police background…
Italian president says Berlusconi conviction definitive
ROME (Reuters) – President Giorgio Napolitano on Tuesday ruled out any reversal of a tax fraud conviction against Silvio Berlusconi and issued a stern warning to his party against trying to bring down the government over the issue.
