Red Cross pushing for access to Syria’s besieged Qusair
GENEVA (Reuters) – The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday it was still seeking a formal Syrian response to its request for urgent access to the besieged town of Qusair after a minister said aid efforts should wait until the fightin…
Analysis: Franco-German EU deal puts onus on Hollande to reform
PARIS (Reuters) – A Franco-German deal to strengthen the euro zone has ended months of bickering between Paris and Berlin and raised the onus on French President Francois Hollande to embark on potentially explosive social and economic reforms.
Swiss billionaire gets 18 years jail for Italian asbestos deaths
MILAN (Reuters) – A billionaire Swiss industrialist convicted for his part in Italy’s biggest asbestos scandal had his jail sentence lengthened to 18 years on Monday, in a ruling campaigners said would set a precedent for work-safety lawsuits.
Kurdish rebels clash with Turkish army during withdrawal
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Kurdish militants opened fire on Turkish troops in southeast Turkey near the border with Iraq on Monday, wounding one soldier, the military said, the first such incident since the rebels began withdrawing from Turkey under a peace …
U.S. came to Syrian peace effort ‘late,’ Kerry says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States came “late” to an effort to end the Syrian civil war and is trying to prevent the total collapse of the country, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday.
Six dead in Lebanon’s Tripoli, shots fired at Sidon cleric
TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) – Six people were killed in clashes in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli and gunmen attacked a cleric in the southern port of Sidon on Monday, security sources said, in violence stoked by civil war in neighboring Syria.
France hits rich families’ tax breaks in benefit reforms
PARIS (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande’s government on Monday announced cuts in tax breaks for rich households as part of a plan to reduce the huge cost of France’s generous family benefits system.
Suspect in British soldier murder blows kisses in dock
LONDON (Reuters) – One of two men charged with murdering a British soldier on a busy London street appeared in court for the first time on Monday, blowing kisses to a supporter in the public gallery and clutching what appeared to be a Koran.
Nations line up to sign U.N. arms trade treaty, U.S. not yet
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Delegates from dozens of countries gathered in New York on Monday to sign the first treaty to regulate the $70 billion global conventional arms trade, but the United States was not among them.
Western Wall rabbi is threatened over women’s prayer group
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli police are investigating threats to hurt the rabbi in charge of Jerusalem’s Western Wall if he does not allow a Jewish women’s prayer group equal worship rights at the holy site, a police spokesman said on Monday.
