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Britain offers visas to its Afghan interpreters

LONDON (Reuters) - Around 600 interpreters who serve alongside British soldiers in Afghanistan are to be offered visas to live in the UK, in a softening of the government's previous policy of encouraging them to stay in the country after British troops withdraw.

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Analysis: From opera to exercises, U.S. and China deepen military ties

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even as the United States accuses China of military espionage and worries about Beijing's more strident posture in the Asia-Pacific region, the ties between the armed forces of the two nations have been getting closer.

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Iran pushes ahead with new nuclear plant that worries West

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran is pressing ahead with the construction of a research reactor that Western experts say could offer it a second way of producing material for a nuclear bomb if it decides to make one, a U.N. report showed on Wednesday.

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Stockholm riots challenge image of happy, generous state

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Hundreds of young people have torched cars and attacked police in three nights of riots in immigrant suburbs of Sweden's capital, shocking a country that has dodged the worst of the financial crisis but failed to defuse youth unemployment and resentment of asylum seekers.

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Young faces enliven Kuwait's faded art scene

KUWAIT (Reuters) - After two lackluster decades, Kuwait is experiencing a quiet revival of an arts scene once known as the most avant garde in the Gulf, thanks to a new generation eager to tackle sensitive issues using cutting-edge art forms.

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Mugabe signs Zimbabwe constitution, paving way for vote

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe signed a new constitution into law on Wednesday, replacing a 33-year-old document forged in the dying days of British colonial rule and paving the way for an election later this year.

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Syrian foes move towards talks but fighting rages

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition and the government of President Bashar al-Assad seem to be preparing to take part in an international peace conference against a background of some of the worst fighting this year.

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World Bank boosts funds for Syria refugees, Africa

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Bank plans substantial new funds to help Jordan cope with the influx of refugees from the civil war in Syria, and hopes new funds for central Africa will cement a peace deal there, the bank's President Jim Yong Kim said on Tuesday.

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Nigeria says to free all female Boko Haram suspects

LAGOS, Nigeria, May 21 - Nigeria said on Tuesday it would free a number of detained Islamist suspects, including all female ones, in what a senior security source called a move to build popular support for its offensive against Boko Haram militants entrenched in the north.

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Boston bomb brothers more American than Chechen: Depardieu

GROZNY, Russia (Reuters) - French actor Gerard Depardieu said on Tuesday the ethnic Chechen brothers accused of the Boston marathon bombing had been raised American and that residents of the volatile Russian region of Chechnya were not to blame.

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Scotland says better off without Britain, but with the pound

LONDON (Reuters) - Ending Britain's 306-year rule would allow Scotland to reverse generations of economic mismanagement and free its lawmakers to boost economic growth, say Scottish nationalists campaigning to split from the UK.

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Qatar: Arab Spring makes Israeli-Palestinian peace more pressing

DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar's emir, who has thrown his state's riches behind Arab uprisings, said on Monday that the emergence of 'people power' had put Arabs in direct confrontation with Israel and made a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more pressing.

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Gay marriage law strains UK Cameron's leadership, government

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's flagship gay marriage policy is set to deepen a rift in his own party on Monday with many of his own lawmakers preparing to defy him in a sign of growing strains on his leadership and his coalition government.

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Somali government says guns won't decide disputed port's fate

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's new government said on Monday it was pursuing talks to resolve rival claims for control in the south that have stoked fears of a return to the clan wars that pitched the nation into anarchy two decades ago.

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With end of Afghan war in sight, Europe pushes business

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The European Union threw its weight behind developing Afghanistan's small but promising private sector this week, in the hope that business can usher in stability and peace once foreign troops leave by the end of next year.

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Ugandan police raid newspaper over Museveni succession letter

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Police raided a leading Ugandan newspaper and disabled its printing press and website on Monday after it published a letter about a purported plot to stifle allegations President Yoweri Museveni is grooming his son for power, a senior editor said.

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Egyptian army boosts forces in Sinai after kidnapping

EL-ARISH, Egypt (Reuters) - The Egyptian army sent reinforcements into the Sinai Peninsula on Monday after President Mohamed Mursi said there would be no talks with militant Islamists who abducted seven members of the security forces last week.

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EU says worried by Russia's human rights record

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union criticized Russia's human rights record on Sunday, saying it was increasingly concerned at a wave of restrictive legislation and prosecutions against activists.

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After crushing Mali Islamists, France pushes deal with Tuaregs

BAMAKO (Reuters) - After winning adulation across Mali for a five month military offensive that crushed al Qaeda fighters, France is now frustrating some of its allies by pushing for a political settlement with a separate group of Tuareg rebels.

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Tunisian police clash with Islamists over banned rally

KAIROUAN, Tunisia (Reuters) - Supporters of the hardline Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia clashed with Tunisian police on Sunday after the government banned its annual rally, saying it posed a threat to society.

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North Korea fires three short-range missiles

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday, South Korea's Defence Ministry said, prompting Western powers to urge Pyongyang to exercise restraint.

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Greying China taps rural elderly to care for those even older

QIANTUN, China (Reuters) - Two years short of 70, Zhang Guosheng spends his days caring for an 81-year-old fellow villager - washing his clothes, bringing meals to his bed, and keeping him company - a routine he'll keep up until he himself needs the type of care he is now giving.

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Syria's Assad: Little chance peace talks would succeed - newspaper

LIMA (Reuters) - Proposed peace talks for Syria would not curb "terrorism" in the country and it is unrealistic to think they would succeed, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published in an Argentine newspaper on Saturday.

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Enraged by kidnapping, Egyptian police block Gaza border

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police angered by the kidnapping of seven colleagues by Islamist gunmen kept a crossing into the Gaza Strip closed again on Saturday, stranding hundreds of Palestinian travelers, witnesses said.

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Armed Tuareg and Arab groups clash in northern Mali

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Fighting has broken out in northern Mali between Tuareg separatists and local Arab-led gunmen, only days after the African country won a $4.2 billion aid pledge to help it recover from a conflict with Islamists affiliated to al Qaeda.

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France's Hollande signs gay marriage law

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande has signed into law a bill allowing same-sex marriage, making France the 14th country to legalize gay weddings.

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Rome protest turns up heat on new PM Letta

ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested in Rome on Saturday against austerity policies and high unemployment, urging new Prime Minister Enrico Letta to focus on creating jobs to help pull the country out of recession.

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Hopes fade for those still trapped in Freeport Indonesia mine

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc said on Saturday that rockfalls were hampering rescue efforts after a tunnel collapse four days ago at its giant Indonesian copper mine, with hopes fading of finding alive any of the 23 still missing.

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Liberia's Johnson-Sirleaf defends governance record

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on Friday defended her government's record on good governance and transparency, following an independent audit that cast doubt on her anti-corruption efforts.

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U.S. chides Russia over missiles as peace plans suffer

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United States chided Russia for sending missiles to the Syrian government as plans for a peace conference promoted by Washington and Moscow were hit by diplomatic rifts over its scope and purpose.

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U.N. chief appoints former Dutch minister to head Mali mission

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday appointed former Dutch development minister Albert Gerard Koenders as U.N. special envoy for Mali and head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the West African country.

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Nigeria bombs Islamists, U.S. sounds alarm

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian warplanes struck militant camps in the northeast on Friday in a major push against an Islamist insurgency, drawing a sharp warning from the United States to respect human rights and not harm civilians.

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Saudi Arabia says hackers sabotage government websites

RIYADH (Reuters) - Several government websites in Saudi Arabia were sabotaged in a series of heavy cyber attacks from abroad in recent days, disabling them briefly until the attacks were repelled, the government said.

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Analysis: Upgrade crowns Turkey's peaceful rise but pitfalls loom

PARIS (Reuters) - Turkey's achievement of investment-grade status crowns a decade of rapid growth, financial stability and political reform by a "tiger" economy on the seam of Europe and Asia, but the rising power still faces pitfalls in a dangerous neighborhood.

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Insight: Syria's Nusra Front eclipsed by Iraq-based al Qaeda

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The most feared and effective rebel group battling President Bashar al-Assad, the Islamist Nusra Front, is being eclipsed by a more radical jihadi force whose aims go far beyond overthrowing the Syrian leader.

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Former Argentine dictator Videla dies in prison at age 87

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Jorge Rafael Videla, an austere former army commander who led Argentina during the bloodiest period of a "dirty war" dictatorship and was unrepentant about kidnappings and murders ordered by the state, died on Friday at age 87.

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Canada deports Palestinian hijacker after 25-year legal battle

OTTAWA (Reuters) - After a 25-year legal battle, Canada has finally deported a Palestinian convicted of an attack on an Israeli airliner in 1968, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said on Monday.

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European, U.S. retailers split on Bangladesh reform plan

DHAKA (Reuters) - Major U.S. retailers, including Gap Inc, declined to endorse an accord on Bangladesh building and fire safety backed by Europe's two biggest fashion chains, a trans-Atlantic divide that may dilute garment industry reform efforts.

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Analysis: Syria peace talks look doomed in advance

LONDON (Reuters) - If anyone saw last week's U.S.-Russian agreement to convene a peace conference on Syria as a potential breakthrough, Western leaders have been going out of their way to disabuse them.

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Kyrgyz "mob rule" derails gold field sale: president

BISHKEK (Reuters) - An emotional Kyrgyzstan president on Tuesday said "mob rule" had wrecked the sale of a gold field, blaming local clans for tripling the asking price and scaring off investors.

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First Kurdish rebels arrive in Iraq under Turkey peace plan

HEROR, Iraq (Reuters) - Weary and caked in mud, the first group of Kurdish militants to leave Turkey under a peace plan descended a mountain into Iraq early on Tuesday to be met with embraces from PKK comrades, in a symbolic step towards ending a three-decades-old insurgency.

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Greek workers walk off the job to protest ban on teachers' strike

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek state workers walked off the job on Tuesday to protest a government decision to ban a strike by high-school teachers, shutting down schools and reducing staff at hospitals to a minimum.

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After bombings,Turkey says world must act against Syria

REYHANLI, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey accused a group with links to Syrian intelligence of carrying out car bombings that killed 46 people in a Turkish border town, and said on Sunday it was time for the world to act against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

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Nationalists cash in on Bulgarians' unhappiness

SOFIA (Reuters) - A Bulgarian nationalist party which has protested against the Roma minority and wants to nationalize foreign-owned firms has emerged as a kingmaker from an election on Sunday by tapping into voters' disillusionment with mainstream politicians.

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Argentina faces very different debt default if loses legal fight

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - When Argentina defaulted on its debt in 2002, the economy was collapsing and a bloody popular revolt had helped topple two presidents in a week. Now, the country could default again, but it would be over a matter of principle rather than necessity.

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Analysis: Iran election opens up as surprise candidates enter race

DUBAI (Reuters) - After the huge protests that followed the 2009 election, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may have hoped June polls would quietly install a loyal conservative president, but the surprise candidacies of two major independents may scupper that.

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Insight: Nigeria's Islamists staging bolder, deadlier comeback

BAGA, Nigeria (Reuters) - After a crackdown pushed them out of Nigeria's northern cities, Islamist militant group Boko Haram have regrouped, rearmed and are staging a bold comeback that has already allowed them to seize control over parts of the northeast.

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