DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran and world powers announced new talks on Tehran’s nuclear program on February 26, but hopes of progress after Tuesday’s announcement were tempered when an Iranian official said the West’s goal in talking was to undermine the Islamic republic. First word of the meeting, to be held in Kazakhstan, came in comments from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to state news agency IRNA. Later, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she hoped to make progress in allaying concerns about a program Iran denies has a military purpose. …
Tuareg rebels say they extend control in Mali's northeast
KIDAL, Mali (Reuters) – Pro-autonomy Tuareg rebels in Mali said on Tuesday they had occupied the town of Menaka, extending their control of the remote northeast as they position for talks with the government after the retreat of al Qaeda-linked insurgents. It was not possible to independently verify whether MNLA fighters had entered Menaka, some 250 km (156 miles) south of their stronghold of Kidal. Menaka was a cradle of the MNLA’s separatist uprising last year that took over northern Mali but was subsequently hijacked by al Qaeda and its allies. …
Israel's Netanyahu hits snags in building team
JERUSALEM (AP) -- As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to take office for a third time, his attempts to form a new coalition government have gotten off to a rocky start. 2 California teens recovering after losing fingers in high school tug-of-war game
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Two teenagers whose fingers were severed during a tug-of-war game at a California high school were recovering Tuesday, but it was unclear whether doctors were able to reattach the digits.
British lawmakers vote in favor of gay marriage
LONDON (AP) -- British lawmakers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage championed by Prime Minister David Cameron, despite stronger-than-expected opposition from within his Conservative Party. Armed gang rapes 6 Spanish tourists in Mexico
ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) -- Six Spanish tourists were raped by a gang of armed, masked men in the Mexican resort of Acapulco, the latest chapter of violence that has tarnished the once-glamorous Pacific coast resort. AP Interview: Egypt's pope criticizes Islamists
AL-MUHARRAQ MONASTERY, Egypt (AP) -- Egypt's Coptic patriarch delivered a cautious but unusually sharp criticism of the nation's Islamist leadership in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, dismissing the new constitution as discriminatory and rounds of national dialogues sponsored by the president as meaningless. Wounded Armenian candidate will not delay election
YEREVAN (Reuters) – An Armenian presidential candidate who was shot last week will not seek a postponement to this month's election to avoid the risk of further instability in the former Soviet republic, his lawyer and other backers said on Tuesday. Paruyr Hayrikyan, an outsider in the race in which President Serzh Sarksyan is widely expected to win a new five-year term, was shot in the shoulder on January 31 near his home in Yerevan. … Argentine minister, UK lawmakers trade barbs in stormy meeting
LONDON (Reuters) – Argentina accused Britain on Tuesday of promoting Israeli-type sett lement on occupied land in the Falkland Islands, while British parliamentarians said Buenos Aires was using "megaphone diplomacy" to assert its claims to the islands. A bid to build confidence and bolster trade between Britain and Argentina in London's parliament descended into acrimony as British lawmakers and Argentinian Foreign Minister Hector Timerman traded barbs over the remote South Atlantic islands. … Argentine minister, UK MPs trade barbs in stormy meeting
LONDON (Reuters) – Argentina accused Britain on Tuesday of promoting Israeli-type settlement on occupied land in the Falkland Islands , while British parliamentarians said Buenos Aires was using "megaphone diplomacy" to assert its claims to the islands. A bid to build confidence and bolster trade between Britain and Argentina in London's parliament descended into acrimony as British lawmakers and Argentinian Foreign Minister Hector Timerman traded barbs over the remote South Atlantic islands. … German education minister stripped of doctorate
BERLIN (AP) -- Germany’s education minister has been stripped of her doctorate following an investigation into allegations that she plagiarized parts of her thesis, which explored the formation of conscience.
Oscar's backstage green room honours Oscar-winning 'Wizard of Oz' art director Cedric Gibbons
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – When Oscar nominees such as Steven Spielberg, Hugh Jackman and Helen Hunt want to take a break backstage during the Academy Awards show, they’ll step back in time.
Memo gives basis for drone strikes vs US citizens
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An unclassified Justice Department memo reveals that the Obama administration has had more lenient rules than publicly known for when drone attacks can be launched to kill U.S. citizens working abroad with terrorists. Afghan corruption, opium, and the strange case of Kam Air
In late January, the US military blacklisted Afghanistan’s Kam Air from winning contracts with the US in Afghanistan, with the head of a US military anticorruption unit asserting that the airline was involved in bulk opium smuggling on commercial flights to Tajikistan.
Germany says two nationals seized by Colombian rebels are tourists
BERLIN/BOGOTA (Reuters) – Two German men kidnapped by Colombia’s ELN rebels in a sparsely populated jungle area near the Venezuelan border are retirees travelling as tourists, Germany’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, after their captors suggested they were spies. The National Liberation Army, Colombia’s second-biggest guerrilla group, said on Monday it had captured two men believed to be from Germany and considered them to be intelligence agents because the pair could not explain why they were in the area. …
Obama plans visit to West Bank, Jordan as part of Middle East trip
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama plans to visit the West Bank and Jordan as part of an upcoming trip to the Middle East, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Tuesday. Earlier, Carney confirmed Obama would travel to Israel in the spring, his first trip to the Jewish state since taking office, but dates for the trip were not released. Obama will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian and Jordanian leaders during the tour, Carney said. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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