Christians in delicate position after rebels briefly capture Syrian town
AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian rebel fighters withdrew on Thursday after briefly capturing a historic Christian town in the center of the country as part of a campaign to take control of strategic mountains near Damascus, opposition sources said.
Some South African gold miners end strike
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Some South African gold miners have ended their strike for higher wages and were heading back to work after just three days, bolstering confidence the strike could be formally called off on Friday.
Thai government reaches possible breakthrough in rubber crisis
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s government said on Friday it had reached a deal with most rubber farmers in the country’s south demanding greater state support for rubber prices, signaling a breakthrough in a two-week long protest.
Syria offers bounty for foreign ‘terrorists’
BEIRUT (Reuters) – For the first time in Syria’s 2-1/2 year conflict, the government is offering a bounty to anyone who captures a foreign “terrorist” – the word authorities use for rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
IAEA says looks into Russian warning on Syria nuclear site
VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog has received a request from Russia to assess the impact if a missile were to hit a small Syrian reactor and is considering the issue, the Vienna-based agency said on Friday.
Egypt moves to dissolve Brotherhood NGO: reports
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s army-backed government will dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood as a non-governmental organization within days, a newspaper reported on Friday, a move that would press a crackdown on deposed President Mohamed Mursi’s movement.
Somalia says foreign investigators clear it of U.N. graft accusations
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia said on Friday that international investigators commissioned by its government had cleared it of corruption accusations leveled by United Nations monitors.
Dutch state blamed in three Srebrenica deaths: Supreme Court
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch state is responsible for the deaths of three Bosnian Muslim men ordered to leave a U.N. compound in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the Dutch Supreme Court said on Friday, in a ruling that may impact future peacekeeping mi…
G20 to say economy recovering, crisis not yet overcome
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – The Group of 20 will say in its summit communique that the global economy is improving but it is too early to declare an end to crisis, a Russian official involved in its drafting told Reuters on Friday.
Belarusian court leaves Russian potash firm’s CEO under arrest
MINSK (Reuters) – A district court in Minsk decided to leave the chief executive of Russian potash producer Uralkali in detention on Friday, resisting pressure from Russia to release him after his arrest last month after the break-up of a local joint v…
