Radical Myanmar Buddhist monk unhurt in bomb blast
YANGON (Reuters) – A bomb exploded meters away from a radical Buddhist monk as he delivered a mass sermon in Myanmar, police said on Monday, the latest flare-up in tensions pitting Buddhists against minority Muslims.
Afghan parliament sacks interior minister over security issues
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s parliament voted on Monday to dismiss one of the country’s top security chiefs by impeaching the interior minister in a potential blow to stability as NATO-led international forces speed their withdrawal from the country…
President cools but not cures Portuguese crisis
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s president has soothed investor concerns by keeping the government in place until 2015, but unresolved tensions over austerity mean the country’s political crisis has not been laid to rest.
Palestinians say no peace talks without ’67 borders agreement
RAMALLAH, West Bank/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Palestinians played down on Monday the significance of an imminent meeting in Washington of their top peace envoy with his Israeli counterpart, saying formal negotiation would not begin unless their opening…
Syria rebels seize government town in Aleppo province
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian rebels seized the northern town of Khan al-Assal on Monday, activists said, one of the last towns in the western part of Aleppo province that was held by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Japan PM Abe’s mandate is much smaller than it looks
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s landslide election victory at the weekend was anything but a ringing endorsement from voters. The vast majority never voted for his coalition.
France stands by veil ban after riots
PARIS (Reuters) – Interior Minister Manuel Valls defended on Monday France’s ban on wearing full-face veils in public places after a police check on a veiled Muslim woman sparked riots in a Paris suburb at the weekend.
Syrian government, opposition must work to expel “terrorists”: Russia
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued a new call on Monday for the Syrian government and opposition to work together to expel all “terrorists and extremists from Syria”, Russian news agencies reported.
Japan PM Abe: Will lose public confidence if retreat from reform
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that his government would lose public confidence if it retreated from reform.
Egypt starts amending constitution despite political divisions
CAIRO (Reuters) – A panel of legal experts started work on Sunday to revise Egypt’s Islamist-tinged constitution, a vital first step on the road to fresh elections ordered by the army following its removal of Mohamed Mursi as president.
