| U.S. may accept less stringent controls for Taliban detainees Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has signaled a willingness to accept less-stringent controls on former Taliban leaders who could be transferred to Qatar as part of a deal between the United States and the Afghan militants to kick-start Afghan peace talks, U.S. officials said. ...
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| Analysis: Springtime in Cuba? Posted:  HAVANA (Reuters) - This week's three-day visit to Cuba by Pope Benedict marked another milestone in the Roman Catholic Church's cautious efforts to expand its role in the communist-run island. Havana's Cardinal Jaime Ortega called it a "Springtime of faith." While it remains unclear if or how the visit will change anything in Cuba, most analysts agree any notion of a 'Cuban spring' in terms of political change is still a long way off. ...
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| Intrigue, treachery charges fly in fight for U.N. post Posted:  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Accusations of threats, Cold War-style treachery and backstage attempts by Russia to punish a former Soviet republic are turning a routine election for a high-profile but largely ceremonial U.N. post into a bitter diplomatic tussle. Serbia and Lithuania are vying for the presidency of the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly. The 12-month post involves chairing the annual gathering of world leaders in New York in September and other U.N. events. But the assembly has no real power. ...
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| Chavez back in Venezuela after radiation therapy Posted:  CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez returned home to Venezuela on Thursday after a first session of radiation treatment in Cuba that he hopes will cure his cancer and allow him to win a new six-year term in October. The 57-year-old socialist leader has said he will be flying back and forth to Havana over the coming weeks as he undergoes therapy, removing himself from the political stage just as his election rival gears up his campaign. ...
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| Angry Spaniards strike against labor reform Posted:  BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish workers angry at a labor reform the government calls an "unstoppable" necessity staged a general strike on Thursday, bringing factories and ports to a standstill and igniting flashes of violence on the streets. Hundreds of thousands attended largely peaceful marches throughout Spain, waving red flags and beating drums against the budget cuts of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was elected by a landslide only four months ago on a mandate to dig the country out of a debt crisis that has unnerved its European neighbors. ...
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| French gunman buried in Toulouse after Algeria rejects body Posted:  TOULOUSE (Reuters) - An al Qaeda-inspired gunman who killed seven people in France before police besieging his home shot him dead was buried on Thursday in Toulouse where the violence occurred after its mayor dropped a refusal to permit the ceremony in the city. Mohamed Merah, a Frenchman of Algerian origin, was to have been interred in a village in the North African country at the request of his father who lives there, but this was declined for security reasons, Abdallah Zekri, an adviser to the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, told Reuters earlier in the day. ...
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| Exclusive: West wants Saudi Arabia to keep up oil production Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - Oil consuming nations may seek reassurance from Saudi Arabia that it will not cut oil production and neutralize the impact on oil prices if consumer countries release emergency reserves, diplomats and industry sources said. The issue may be raised by a U.S. delegation, led by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which is in Riyadh this weekend to discuss Syria with Gulf states. Clinton will see Saudi King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal. ...
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| France bars four more Islamic preachers from entry Posted:  PARIS (Reuters) - France barred four Islamic preachers from entering the country on Thursday after banning prominent preacher Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi and another Egyptian cleric who wanted to attend a Muslim conference in Paris. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Interior Minister Claude Gueant said in a joint statement the four preachers "call for hate and violence ... and, in the current context, present a strong risk of upsetting public order". ...
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| Analysis: Drug gang menace overshadows Mexican election Posted:  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A month after taking office, President Felipe Calderon stood in military fatigues before a group of soldiers in western Mexico and pledged to put a stop to drug-related violence. Turf wars between drug cartels were spreading deep into Mexico, beyond the smuggling hotspots on the U.S. border; extortion was a growing menace, and hitmen had resorted to new levels of brutality, dumping severed heads in public. So Calderon said enough was enough. ...
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| Iran suspends accreditation for Reuters in Tehran Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - The Iranian government has suspended the press accreditation for Reuters staff in Tehran after the publication of a video story on women's martial arts training which contained an error. Reuters, the news arm of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information group, corrected the story after the martial arts club where the video was filmed made a complaint. The story's headline, "Thousands of female Ninjas train as Iran's assassins", was corrected to read "Three thousand women Ninjas train in Iran". ...
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| 13 dead in Honduran prison fire amid inmate riot Posted:  At least 13 people died during an uprising by armed inmates at a Honduran prison Thursday, one of them decapitated and the others killed by a fire started by the rioters, authorities said.
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| Syria's Assad demands rebels halt attacks Posted:  Syria's President Bashar Assad said Thursday he will spare no effort to make U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan a success, but demanded that armed opponents battling his regime commit to halting violence.
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| Spain engulfed by nationwide anti-austerity strike Posted:  Spanish workers enraged by austerity-driven labor reforms to prevent the nation from becoming Europe's next bailout victim slowed down the country's economy in a general strike Thursday, closing factories and clashing with police as the new-center right government tried to convince investors the nation isn't headed for a financial meltdown.
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| Sunni rulers largely shun Iraq at Arab summit Posted:  Sunni Muslim rulers largely shunned an Arab League summit hosted by Shiite-led Iraq on Thursday, illustrating how powerfully the sectarian split and the rivalry with Iran define Middle Eastern politics in the era of the Arab Spring.
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| French gunman buried after terror attacks Posted:  The gunman who claimed responsibility for France's worst terror attacks in years was buried Thursday in a Toulouse cemetery, ending a tortured debate over what to do with the body of a man the president called a "monster."
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| West Africa regional bloc seals borders with Mali Posted:  West Africa's regional bloc announced late Thursday that it is closing all land borders with Mali and freezing the nation's bank account in an effort to force mutinous soldiers from power who seized control in a coup last week.
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| Brazil protests counter military coup celebration Posted:  Riot police used pepper spray and tear gas Thursday to chase protesters away from a celebration by retired soldiers marking the 1964 coup that established Brazil's long military dictatorship.
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| UK hacking scandal claims 3rd senior police figure Posted:  Scotland Yard's communications chief resigned Thursday, the third senior police figure to part with his job over the force's failure to come to grips with Britain's phone hacking scandal.
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| Israel braces for Arab protests on Friday Posted:  Israel on Thursday stepped up preparations a day before a series of planned Arab protests, deploying thousands of troops and police across the country and along its borders in anticipation of possible violence.
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| 18 dead in Honduran prison fire amid inmate riot Posted:  At least 18 people died during an uprising by armed inmates at a Honduran prison Thursday, one of them decapitated and the others killed by a fire started by the rioters, authorities said.
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