Colombian peace talks recess with scant progress, election looms
HAVANA (Reuters) – The Colombian government and leftist FARC rebels wound up a 13th round of peace negotiations on Wednesday, bickering over how to end the conflict and making little visible progress over key issues despite nine months of talks.
Israeli troops disciplined after partying with Palestinians
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has disciplined a group of soldiers for partying with Palestinians while armed and in uniform at a nightclub in the West Bank city of Hebron, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.
British government approach on Syria ‘consistent’: UK foreign secretary
LONDON (Reuters) – British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday the motion on how to respond to an alleged chemical attack in Syria to be considered by parliament on Thursday was consistent with the approach adopted by the government so fa…
Syrian gas attack must draw reaction, Merkel and Cameron agree
BERLIN (Reuters) – The leaders of Germany and Britain believe that Syria’s government should not to go unpunished for an apparent poison gas attack on its own people, Berlin said on Wednesday.
Taliban attack Polish base in Afghanistan, seven killed
GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Seven people were killed in an attack claimed by the Taliban on a base operated by Polish and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials and a Reuters witness said.
Bombs kill 86 in Baghdad as sectarian violence spreads
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A series of car bombings and other attacks across Baghdad on Wednesday killed 86 people and wounded 263, police and medical sources said, extending the worst wave of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq for at least five years.
Egyptian soldiers will no longer swear loyalty to president
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian soldiers will no longer swear loyalty directly to the president of the republic, according to a published decree, a symbolic change analysts said underlined the military’s independence from any civilian control.
Arab League ministers to blame Syria’s Assad for chemical attack
CAIRO (Reuters) – Arab League ministers will pass a resolution blaming Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for last week’s chemical weapons attack in Damascus when they meet in Cairo next week, League officials said on Wednesday.
Italy reaches deal on housing tax, easing pressure on Letta
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s government reached a deal on Wednesday to reform an unpopular property tax, easing a source of persistent tension which had threatened to split the fragile coalition of traditional rivals from the left and right.
Construction work seen near mothballed North Korean reactor: IAEA
VIENNA (Reuters) – North Korea has been carrying out construction work at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, including near a mothballed reactor that experts say could produce plutonium for bombs, a U.N. nuclear agency report showed on Wednesday.
