China lifts 17-year ban on Dalai Lama photos at Tibet monastery: group
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese officials have lifted a ban on Tibetan monks displaying photographs of the Dalai Lama at a prominent monastery, a rights group said on Thursday, an unexpected policy shift which could ease tensions in the restive region.
U.S. to suspend trade benefits for Bangladesh: source
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is expected to announce on Thursday that the United States is suspending U.S. trade benefits for Bangladesh after two tragedies in the past year in the country’s garment sector that have cost more than 1,20…
Syria war likely to drag on, Red Cross president says
GENEVA (Reuters) – The Red Cross said on Thursday it was planning humanitarian operations for an extended conflict in Syria in the absence of any sign of a political solution and military stalemate between rebels and government troops.
U.S. sanctions North Korea bank as it targets weapons program
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration said on Thursday it was sanctioning North Korea’s Daedong Credit Bank for its role in supporting Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction program.
Tribal clashes kill 50 near gold mine in Sudan’s Darfur
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Fighting between two Arab tribes vying for control of a gold mine has killed around 50 people in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, a tribal leader and a U.N. source said on Thursday.
Somalia’s security improving despite attack on U.N.: premier
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has said last week’s deadly assault on a U.N. compound in Mogadishu should not obscure the fact that many other attacks are now being foiled in a nation slowly recovering from war.
Blast kills four in Old City of Damascus
BEIRUT (Reuters) – An explosion struck the Christian Bab Touma district in the Old City of Damascus on Thursday in what Syrian state television said was a suicide bombing. Opposition sources said it was a mortar attack.
U.N. council brings Iraq closer to end of 1990s sanctions
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council brought Iraq one step closer on Thursday to ending United Nations sanctions imposed on Baghdad more than two decades ago after former President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait In 1990.
Libya defense minister removed after Tripoli clashes
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s defense minister will be removed from his post following fierce clashes between rival armed militias in the capital Tripoli in which 10 people were killed and more than 100 injured, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Thursday…
Swiss to press U.S. further on Snowden’s time in Geneva
GENEVA (Reuters) – Switzerland wants to hold further talks with Washington on fugitive Edward Snowden’s activities as a CIA operative in Geneva after receiving only a “diplomatic” reply to its initial questions, the Swiss foreign minister said on Thurs…
