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Muslim Brotherhood seeks unity ahead of Egypt runoff

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood is reaching out to rivals including politicians knocked out of the presidential race in an attempt to rally support around its own candidate who faces a runoff against Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq.

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Ex-Mexico cop pleads guilty in U.S. to organizing cartel hit squad

(Reuters) - A former Mexican police officer accused of organizing a hit squad for the once-powerful Tijuana drug cartel pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court on Friday to racketeering and drug trafficking, prosecutors said.

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U.S. debates "terrorist" sanctions for Nigerian militants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department is debating the wisdom of designating the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram a "foreign terrorist organization" despite entreaties from lawmakers and the Justice Department to do so.

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Exclusive: Syria grain trade signals alarm for Assad

LONDON/HAMBURG (Reuters) - Syria is struggling to meet its grain import needs because of sanctions, raising the risk of bread shortages that could sap public support for President Bashar al-Assad as he tries to snuff out a 15-month-old uprising.

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U.N. inspectors find high-grade uranium traces in Iran

VIENNA (Reuters) - United Nations nuclear inspectors have found uranium particles refined to a higher-than-expected level at an underground site where Iran has installed more than 50 percent more enrichment centrifuges, a U.N. watchdog report said on Friday.

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Suspect in Kosovo organ trafficking arrested

PRISTINA (Reuters) - A suspect in a human organ trafficking scandal that came to light in Kosovo in 2008 has been arrested in Israel, the European Union's police and justice mission in the Balkan country said on Friday.

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Exclusive: U.S. probes China's ZTE over tech sales to Iran

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Department of Commerce is investigating Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp for allegedly selling embargoed U.S. computer products to Iran.

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Lebanese Shi'ite hostages freed, en route to Beirut

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Shi'ites kidnapped in Syria were freed and handed over to Turkish authorities on Friday, Lebanon's prime minister said after the abductions sparked angry protests in his country where sectarian tensions have flared over Syria's turmoil.

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Women, children targeted in renewed Congo clashes

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Rival armed groups in Congo's eastern provinces are targeting each other's families, killing children, women and the elderly in some of the country's worst violence in years, officials said on Friday.

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Lesotho heads for tense, open election

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Voters in the highland African kingdom of Lesotho go to the polls on Saturday in a wide-open election that analysts say could end up without a clear result, as happened in 1998 when South Africa had to send in troops to quell major civil unrest.

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Egypt to pick Islamist or military man as president

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians must choose between a Muslim Brother or an ex-military man in a presidential run-off that highlights the stark rifts in a nation united in euphoria when Hosni Mubarak fell 15 months ago, first-round results indicated on Friday.

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Myanmar protests an opportunity to show more reform

YANGON (Reuters) - Five days of street protests over chronic power shortages present Myanmar's reformist government with a headache and an opportunity.

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Both sides in Syria abuse human rights: U.N. report

GENEVA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - A U.N. investigation on Thursday said both sides in the Syrian conflict had committed serious human rights abuses, with government forces executing entire families in their homes and rebels torturing and killing soldiers and government supporters.

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Activist Chen urges China to prosecute "lawless officials"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng urged authorities in Beijing on Thursday to prosecute "lawless" officials who harassed and abused the self-taught lawyer, his family and supporters, saying such prosecutions could help China establish the rule of law.

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Scots' push for Britain breakup begins in earnest

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Supporters of independence for Scotland will launch on Friday what they say is the biggest grassroots campaign in Scottish history, a move that could result in the demise of a 305-year-old union with England and the breakup of Britain.

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Divided Syrian opposition to choose new leader

AMMAN (Reuters) - The main Syrian National Council opposition group said it had accepted the resignation of its president, setting the stage for a showdown between the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and its political rivals over who will be the new leader.

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Norway state workers launch first strike in decades

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian state workers went on strike for the first time in decades on Thursday after pay talks broke down overnight, shutting schools, child care centers and other public institutions.

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EU urges Greece to stay in euro, plans for possible exit

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders, advised by senior officials to prepare contingency plans in case Greece decides to quit the single currency, urged the country to stay the course on austerity and complete the reforms demanded under its bailout program.

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Egyptians back at the polls to pick president

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt resumes its first free presidential election on Thursday after voting passed off mostly calmly on the first day apart from a stone-throwing attack on candidate Ahmed Shafiq, who was premier for a few days before Hosni Mubarak fell.

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Iranians reflect on sanctions as nuclear talks loom

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian crewman climbed down from the cabin of the ship and shuffled over to the fence that separated the public road from the quayside.

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Egypt's struggle will go on after vote-activists

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt holds its first genuinely contested presidential election this week, but Amr Adel believes nothing will really change as long as the military keeps an overt or covert grip on power.

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Insight: Jerusalem expansion reaches point of no return

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Named for the crash site of an airforce plane shot down during the Six Day War in 1967, Givat HaMatos may yet prove the place where Palestinian hopes of a creating a capital in Jerusalem also plunge to earth.

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Insight: EU foreign policy chief Ashton stays out of the spotlight

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - For an insight into the world of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, consider the tale of a humble asterisk.

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Greeks embrace some new myths about life with the euro

ATHENS (Reuters) - In a land of ancient myths, modern Greeks have created some of their own about their near-bankrupt country's future as an integral part of a Europe that will never kick them out.

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Putin dominates new Russian government

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a government dominated by loyalists on Monday, tightening his grip on the economy and limiting Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's ability to pursue his reform agenda.

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Merkel to discuss fiscal pact with German parties

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss with the leaders of German political parties on Thursday the prospects for a European fiscal pact she wants parliament to approve before its summer recess despite opposition foot-dragging.

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Italy vote to tap austerity anger, gauge political shift

ROME (Reuters) - Italy is likely to register a strong protest vote against belt-tightening on Monday in local elections that will provide a fresh snapshot of Europe's changing political landscape a year ahead of a national ballot.

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Iraq turns to U.S. drones to protect oil platforms

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is buying unmanned drones from the United States to help protect its southern oil platforms as the OPEC nation ramps up production after the withdrawal of the last American troops, U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Monday.

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Impatient Thai red shirts want justice from PM Yingluck

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's "red shirts" took to the street this weekend to mark the anniversary of the army's bloody repression of their mass rally in Bangkok in 2010 amid growing signs of a rift with the government they helped elect last July.

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World leaders back Greece, vow to combat financial turmoil

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - World leaders backed keeping Greece in the euro zone on Saturday and vowed to take all steps necessary to combat financial turmoil while revitalizing a global economy increasingly threatened by Europe's debt crisis.

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Syria bomb kills 9, Damascus blames foreign plot

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed nine people at a Syrian military post in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday, an attack the government said was the latest proof that an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad was a foreign plot.

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Youth protest former Mexican ruling party's rise

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators protested in Mexico City on Saturday against opposition presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, who is far ahead in polls and poised to lead the party that ruled Mexico for much of the 20th century back to power.

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Blind activist says China's "manipulation" of nephew's case will fail

BEIJING (Reuters) - Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said on Saturday the authorities' drive to manipulate his nephew's case would not succeed, but instead would increase public discontent over an episode that has renewed international focus on China's human rights and legal system.

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Police detain 400 "Blockupy" activists in Frankfurt

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German police said they detained 400 anti-capitalist protesters in Frankfurt on Friday for defying a ban on demonstrations against austerity policies implemented to tackle the intensifying euro zone debt crisis.

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Obama, Hollande agree on much - but not Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New French President Francois Hollande told President Barack Obama on Friday that he will stick by his pledge to withdraw France's troops from Afghanistan at year's end, a note of discord in an otherwise convivial first meeting between the two leaders.

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Strauss-Kahn countersuit: Opening the door to his sexual past?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn struck back this week at the hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault with a sharply worded countersuit claiming defamation, but lawyers say the filing could backfire.

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Exclusive: Drugmakers weigh emergency supply plan for Greece

LONDON (Reuters) - International drugmakers are working with European authorities on emergency plans to keep medicines flowing into Greece if the country crashes out of the euro.

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Spat with Iraq bares Turk plunge into regional power game

ANKARA (Reuters) - A bitter rift with Iraq has exposed Turkey's role in a wider Middle East power struggle, with Ankara acting to protect its stability and prosperity from an Iranian-Iraqi "Shi'ite axis" it fears in the wake of the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq.

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Analysis: In India, muddled leadership leaves economy adrift

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - "Dear God," wrote economist Rajeev Malik as he called on the Almighty to help India's "rudderless" government in a biting critique that underscored a growing frustration at home and abroad with the stewardship of Asia's third-largest economy.

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Banks' rising bad loans add to Spanish troubles

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish bank bad loans rose in March to their highest in 18 years, figures from the Bank of Spain showed on Friday, underscoring the problems facing the government as it attempts to clean up the sector and get its economy back on track.

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G8 leaders look to head off euro zone crisis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of major industrial economies meet this weekend to try to tackle a full-blown crisis in Europe where fears are growing that Greece could leave the euro zone bloc, threatening the future of the common currency.

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Bhutan counts the cost of trying to buy happiness

THIMPHU, Bhutan (Reuters) - They say you can't buy happiness - and it's something Bhutan is finding out the hard way.

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Spain beset by bank crisis, recession, bond pressure

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's borrowing costs shot up at a bond auction on Thursday, after economic data confirmed the country is back in recession and reports of an outflow of deposits from nationalized Bankia hammered its share price.

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Analysis: Saudi Gulf union plan stumbles as wary leaders seek detail

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's thrust for a Gulf Union, driven by fear of Arab Spring contagion and spreading Iranian influence, has stumbled on misgivings among smaller neighbors about a loss of sovereignty and increasing domination by Riyadh.

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Exclusive: Iran flouts U.N. sanctions, sends arms to Syria: panel

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria remains the top destination for Iranian arms shipments in violation of a U.N. Security Council ban on weapons exports by the Islamic Republic, according to a confidential report on Iran sanctions-busting seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

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Exclusive: China pushes North Korea to drop nuclear test plan: sources

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has been quietly and gently pressuring North Korea to scrap plans for a third nuclear test, said two sources with knowledge of closed-door discussions between the countries, but there is no indication how the North will react.

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Afghanistan mulls Islamic bonds, fearing Western cash cutback

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan, which has only a semblance of a capital market, intends to sell Islamic bonds as it braces for a possible sharp fall in Western financial support as the war against the Taliban winds down, a senior central bank official said this week.

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Judge to lead Greece to fateful June 17 vote

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece put a senior judge in charge of an emergency government on Wednesday to lead it to new elections on June 17 and bankers sought to calm public fears after the president said political chaos risked causing panic and a run on deposits.

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Syria's Assad: Nations that sow chaos will suffer

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that countries trying to "sow chaos" in Syria could be infected with it themselves, an apparent warning to Arab Gulf nations that back the insurgency aimed at forcing him from power.

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German minister steps down, replaced by Merkel ally: sources

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen, who took the blame for a historic defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in a regional election on Sunday, is to step down and be replaced by her parliamentary whip Peter Altmaier, official sources said on Wednesday.

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