Pinera’s rating rises but still seen as liability to his coalition
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chilean President Sebastian Pinera’s popularity bounced to a two-year high of 40 percent in May, but any candidate who represents his ruling coalition faces an uphill battle in November’s presidential election, analysts said on Wed…
Mosque burns down in London in suspicious circumstances
LONDON (Reuters) – A mosque burned down in Britain in a suspected arson attack on Wednesday, intensifying fears of a backlash against Muslims after a British soldier was killed on a London street last month.
U.S. renews Iran sanctions waivers for China, India, others
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department on Wednesday renewed six-month waivers on Iran sanctions for China, India and seven other economies in exchange for their agreeing to reduce purchases of oil from Iran.
U.S., Venezuela to find ways to forge positive relations: Kerry
ANTIGUA, Guatemala (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday he and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua had agreed to find new ways to forge positive relations between their two countries, long at political loggerheads.
Germans, Czechs on alert as floods spread north
DRESDEN, Germany/LITOMERICE, Czech Republic (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Germans, Hungarians and Czechs were evacuated from their homes on Wednesday as soldiers raced to pile up sandbags to hold back rising waters in the region’s worst floods in a …
Insight: Erdogan wounded, not felled, by Turkish protests
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Tayyip Erdogan has walked Turkey’s political stage unchallenged for a decade, bringing powerful generals to heel and driving economic success that has changed the face of the country, spreading its influence across the region.
Egypt demands Ethiopia halt Nile dam, upping stakes
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt will demand Ethiopia stop building a dam on one of the main tributaries of the Nile, a senior government aide said on Wednesday, ramping up a confrontation over the project that Egypt fears will affect its main source of water.
Yemen launches assaults on al Qaeda, several killed
ADEN (Reuters) – At least 11 people were killed in Yemeni army operations against al Qaeda-linked militants on Wednesday, including an offensive in eastern Yemen, where fighters had declared their aim to set up an Islamist state.
NATO faults Russia over South Ossetia fence, also chides Georgia
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Wednesday it was unacceptable for Russian forces to put up a fence on the border of Georgia’s breakaway province of South Ossetia, believing it could further inflame tensions in the region.
North Korean defector’s “impossible” dream of closing prison camps
GENEVA (Reuters) – North Korea’s best-known defector, Shin Dong-hyuk, dreams of making the “impossible” happen one day – ridding his secretive homeland of the kind of brutal prison camps he says he was born and raised in before a dramatic escape in 200…
