Pirates release Pakistani crew kidnapped off Nigeria
YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) – Pirates have released five Pakistani crew they kidnapped from an oil tanker off the Nigerian coast two weeks ago, security sources said on Thursday.
Ukraine leader urges EU trade deal, doesn’t budge on Tymoshenko
KIEV (Reuters) – President Viktor Yanukovich pressed the European Union on Thursday to conclude a milestone political and trade deal with Ukraine this year but he gave no ground on a key EU demand that he free jailed opponent Yulia Tymoshenko.
China blames management’s ‘total mess’ for slaughterhouse fire
BEIJING (Reuters) – Safety management at the Chinese firm whose poultry slaughterhouse caught fire earlier this week killing 120 people was a “total mess” and two senior executives have been detained by the authorities, state media said on Thursday.
Belgian royals face first tax bills, wage cuts
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgium’s royal family will start paying taxes for the first time and will lose some state allowances, the government said, bringing them into line with some other monarchies at a time of belt-tightening around Europe.
From factory to five-star hotel for Bangladesh’s 17-day survivor
DHAKA (Reuters) – A teenage seamstress who survived 17 days trapped under the rubble of a collapsed Bangladesh garment factory walked smiling out of a military hospital on Thursday and into a new job in a five-star hotel.
Not just Bangladesh, garment makers pressured in Cambodia as well
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – As investment in Cambodia’s textile industry surges, so is labour unrest, putting pressure on suppliers to the world’s big garment brands to raise wages and improve sometimes grim conditions in one of the last bastions of low-cos…
China complains to Ghana after detentions in mining crackdown
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday the government had complained to Ghana’s president after 124 Chinese citizens were detained in a crackdown on illegal gold mining.
Two Tunisian soldiers killed in hunt for Islamists near Algeria
TUNIS (Reuters) – Two Tunisian soldiers were killed and four wounded in a landmine explosion near the Algerian border where security forces are pursuing Islamist insurgents, an army spokesman said on Thursday.
Insight: Russia’s Syria diplomacy, a game of smoke and mirrors
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Sitting at a long table in Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Syrian opposition leaders outlined a plan to protect Moscow’s interests if the Kremlin agreed to the removal of its longstanding ally, President Bashar al-Assad.
France will reform social model as it sees fit: PM
VIENNA (Reuters) – France is committed to reforming its economy and bringing down its budget deficit but will do so as it – not the European Commission – sees fit, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said.
