Security tight as Iraqis vote in Sunni-dominated provinces

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:35:08 GMT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi electoral official was killed in a roadside bombing on Thursday, police said, as two Sunni Muslim-dominated provinces went to the polls under tight security.

India may have to wait to join sensitive nuclear export body

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:34:22 GMT

VIENNA (Reuters) - Some states still appear to be skeptical about letting nuclear-armed India into an influential body regulating sensitive atomic trade, diplomats said on Thursday, suggesting Indian membership may not be imminent.

Palestinian children tortured, used as shields by Israel: U.N.

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:24:16 GMT

GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Palestinian children, including by torturing those in custody and using others as human shields.

Pope blames speculation, corruption for 'scandalous' food crisis

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:16:51 GMT

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Thursday that financial speculation and corruption were keeping millions of people in hunger and the financial crisis could not be used as an alibi for failing to help the poor.

Insight: Pakistan influence on Taliban commanders helped Afghan breakthrough

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:03:03 GMT

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's powerful military has played a central role in convincing Afghanistan's Taliban rebels to hold talks with the United States, U.S. and Pakistani officials said, a shift from widely held views in Washington that it was obstructing peace in the region.

Egypt court orders Mubarak PM Nazif freed

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:55:18 GMT

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court ordered the release of former prime minister Ahmed Nazif on Thursday, because of a limit on pretrial detention in a corruption case for which he had been held since the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Somali Islamists threaten more carnage after attack on U.N. base

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:39:33 GMT

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamist al Shabaab rebel group threatened to keep attacking "disbelievers" without respite, a day after launching a deadly assault against the United Nations in the capital Mogadishu.

Sweden jails Rwandan for life for role in 1994 genocide

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:33:14 GMT

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish court on Thursday sentenced a man of Rwandan origin to life imprisonment for his role in the 1994 genocide in the African county, the first such case in the Nordic state.

Italy PM sees no impact on government from Berlusconi trials

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:30:20 GMT

ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-left Prime Minister Enrico Letta declared on Thursday that a series of criminal trials involving center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi would have no impact on the functioning of the coalition government between their two parties.

Lebanese president urges Hezbollah to pull out of Syria

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:14:49 GMT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Michel Suleiman has called on the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah movement to pull its guerrillas out of Syria, saying any further involvement in its neighbor's civil war would fuel instability in Lebanon.

ICC says Kenyan president's trial to start on Nov 12

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:11:30 GMT

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The war crimes trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will begin on November 12, judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on Thursday, accepting his lawyers' request for more time to prepare his defense.

Iraq says proxy war over Syria threatens its neutrality

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:59:17 GMT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is being buffeted by both sides in the civil war raging across its border in Syria and Baghdad's official policy of neutrality is at risk as the conflict spirals into a region-wide proxy war, its foreign minister said.

Afghan peace bid stumbles on Kabul-Taliban protocol row

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:39:51 GMT

DOHA (Reuters) - A fresh effort to end Afghanistan's 12-year-old war looked in disarray on Thursday after a diplomatic spat about the Taliban's new Qatar office delayed preliminary discussions between the United States and the Islamist insurgents.

U.S. cites Russia, China among worst in human trafficking: report

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:21:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An annual U.S. State Department report on Wednesday cited Russia and China among the world's worst offenders in fighting forced labor and sex trafficking, which could lead to U.S. sanctions, prompting angry rebuttals from Moscow and Beijing.

German insurance claims for flood damage may be nearly $8 billion: AIR

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:07:03 GMT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Insurance claims for flood damage in Germany may be as much as 6 billion euros ($8 billion), catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide said on Thursday, after the worst flooding in a decade.

Insight: Chinese whispers: Who wants to bet on the 'Nicaragua Canal'?

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 08:59:20 GMT

MANAGUA/PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - For centuries since the colonization of the New World, entrepreneurs have dreamed of building a canal spanning Nicaragua to make it easier to tap Asia's riches.

Syria's warring sides trade wheat for flour

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:51:03 GMT

IDLIB PROVINCE, Syria (Reuters) - Away from the battlefield, some Syrian rebels are doing business with the same government they are trying to topple.

India sets up elaborate system to tap phone calls, e-mail

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:46:17 GMT

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance program that will give its security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap directly into e-mails and phone calls without oversight by courts or parliament, several sources said.

Turkish government, protesters seek to draw sting from unrest

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:08:03 GMT

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's deputy prime minister said on Wednesday he had no objection to silent anti-government protests inspired by a symbolic "Standing Man" vigil, comments that could help draw the sting out of three weeks of often violent demonstrations.

China jails 19 Uighurs for religious extremism

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:40:41 GMT

BEIJING (Reuters) - Courts in China's far western region of Xinjiang have sentenced 19 ethnic Uighurs to up to six years in jail for promoting racial hatred and religious extremism online, in the latest crackdown on what China sees as violent separatists.

Sao Paulo, Rio revoke transport fare hikes as protests continue

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:06:41 GMT

SAO PAULO/FORTALEZA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's two biggest cities agreed on Wednesday to revoke an increase in public transportation fares that set off demonstrations that have grown into nationwide protests against poor public services, inflation and corruption.

Afghan government to shun U.S. talks with Taliban

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:42:28 GMT

KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Revived Afghan peace talks hit their first roadblock on Wednesday, a day after they were announced, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not join U.S. talks with the Taliban and would halt negotiations with Washington on a post-2014 troop pact.

Sao Paulo, Rio revoke transport fare hikes as protests continue

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:17:16 GMT

SAO PAULO/FORTALEZA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's two biggest cities agreed on Wednesday to revoke an increase in public transportation fares that set off demonstrations that have grown into nationwide protests against poor public services, inflation and corruption.

Myanmar constitution likely to dash Suu Kyi's presidential hopes

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:02:49 GMT

YANGON (Reuters) - Her adoring compatriots believe democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is destined to become Myanmar's next president. But don't bet on it.

Analysis: Brazil's protests: Not quite a 'Tropical Spring'

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:59:49 GMT

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's blossoming protest movement is a coming-of-age for what had been one of Latin America's most politically disengaged youth populations, but does not appear to constitute a major threat to governability or established political parties.