By Mehreen Zahra-Malik ISLAMABAD | Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:34am EST ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has agreed to free some Afghan Taliban prisoners who could be useful in reconciliation efforts, officials from both countries said on Wednesday, the clearest sign that Islamabad will put its weight behind the troubled Afghan peace process. Afghan officia...

By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO | Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:07am EST SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilians like to say theirs is the country of soccer and it has certainly given the world strong candidates for the greatest player, the greatest team and even the greatest stadium. In the nation that will host the next World Cup, however, fewer people go to see prof...

By Yasmine Saleh and John Irish CAIRO/PARIS | Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:06pm EST CAIRO/PARIS (Reuters) - France became the first European power to recognize Syria's new opposition coalition as the sole representative of its people and said on Tuesday it would look into arming rebels against President Bashar al-Assad once they form a government. Twenty m...

By Laura L. Myers TACOMA, Washington | Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:41pm EST TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A decorated U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers carried out his rampage in a methodical manner and should face a court martial and, ultimately, the death penalty, a military prosecutor said on Tuesday. Army Prosecutor Major Rob Stelle...

WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:25pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has faith in General John Allen to continue commanding U.S. forces in Afghanistan while under investigation for alleged inappropriate communication with a woman at the center of the scandal involving former CIA Director Davi...

By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO | Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:18pm EST CAIRO (Reuters) - The leader of Syria's new opposition coalition urged European states on Tuesday to recognize it as the legitimate government, enabling it to buy the weapons it needs to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Britain and France appeared to set further conditions, notably that it ...

Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:18am EST (Reuters) - A preliminary hearing for Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a massacre this year, was to enter its final stage on Tuesday with lawyers' closing statements. Army prosecutors and defense attorneys were expected to wrap up their arguments in the case against Bales, 39, a father of two...

Panamanian drug agents captured ex-OIJ detective Mauricio Garcia, 40, aboard his yacht Oct. 20. The yacht was anchored just off the province of Bocas del Toro in Panama waters with 633 kilos (more than 1000 lbs.) of cocaine aboard. Garcia was arrested by OIJ 18 years ago and, along with two others, was condemned to 12 years in prison for the murder of Costa Rican farmer Ciro Monge. He completed...

DUBAI | Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:23am EST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran unveiled new missile and artillery systems on Tuesday, Iranian media reported, on the second day of large-scale military exercises which officials said were aimed at sending a warning to those threatening the Islamic Republic. Played out against a backdrop of high tension between Iran and the Wes...

By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO | Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:01am EST CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's new opposition body sought Arab and European backing on Tuesday, but Britain and France seemed to set new conditions for its recognition as an interim government to take over should President Bashar al-Assad fall. The Syrian leader has vowed to fight to the death in a ...

FLORENCE, Italy | Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:54am EST FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Three people died when their car fell off a collapsed bridge on Tuesday, as flooding battered central Italy for a third straight day, forcing part of Italy's main north-south highway to close. Water levels were receding, however, in Venice, the lagoon city and Unesco world heritage...

By Ayla Jean Yackley DIYARBAKIR, Turkey | Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:24am EST DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - When Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged the existence of a "Kurdish problem" to a rally in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Mayor Osman Baydemir was among thousands who stood to applaud a momentous declaration. For decades, Turkey had ...

LONDON | Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:12am EST LONDON (Reuters) - A British Royal Navy submariner admitted in court on Tuesday that he met two men he thought were Russian agents to pass on military secrets, including the sailing dates of British nuclear submarines. Petty officer Edward Devenney, 30, from Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to a char...

By Ori Lewis JERUSALEM | Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:40am EST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel struck three targets in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Tuesday and warned an on-going crisis with Palestinian militants had not been resolved, despite a marked decrease in rocket-fire from the territory. The Israeli military said its warplanes successfully hit...

BEIJING | Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:14am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday it supports the Palestinian bid for U.N. observer status, with a vote on the matter at the United Nations later this month. China has traditionally had close relations with the Palestinians, but in recent years also has had good ties with Israel, especially in the field of de...

HARARE | Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:07am EST HARARE (Reuters) - At least $2 billion of diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange fields have been stolen by people linked to President Robert Mugabe's party, a diamond watchdog has said, although the state mining firm said the gems were sold transparently. Partnership Africa Canada, a member of the Kimberley Process initiat...

By Jack Kim and David Chance SEOUL | Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:49am EST SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's government should resume publishing polls on nuclear safety after a loss of public confidence in the sector in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster, an opposition South Korean lawmaker said on Tuesday. The call came as South Korea, whose public is t...

By Jibran Ahmad PESHAWAR, Pakistan | Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:18am EST PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The Haqqani network, seen as the most lethal insurgent faction in Afghanistan, would take part in peace talks with the United States but only under the direction of their Afghan Taliban leaders, a top faction commander said on Tuesday. The rare flexibi...

KABUL | Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:54am EST KABUL (Reuters) - A rocket landed near the Afghan intelligence agency in Kabul and two others struck near the airport highway and a private television station, security officials said. The rocket attacks were a reminder of Afghanistan's security challenges as most NATO combat troops prepare to withdraw at the end of 20...

MANAGUA | Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:41pm EST MANAGUA (Reuters) - Nicaragua has begun talks with the International Monetary Fund over a financial aid package that aims to bolster efforts to reform taxes and pensions, the country's central bank president said on Monday. Alberto Guevara, president of the central bank of...

JERUSALEM | Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:11pm EST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft struck three times in Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday morning, hitting a weapons storage facility and two rocket launching sites used by militants, the military said in a statement. As a growing crisis in the Gaza Strip moved into a fifth day, the Israeli army said it had s...

By Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent WASHINGTON | Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:09pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With the U.S. election over and Syria's civil war growing bloodier and spreading, the Obama administration is quietly re-examining its options for involvement in the conflict. Whether that will lead to a change in strategy remains unclear. ...

By Rania El Gamal and Yasmine Saleh DOHA/CAIRO | Mon Nov 12, 2012 6:44pm EST DOHA/CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's newly named opposition leader, a soft-spoken cleric backed by Washington and the Gulf Arab states, launched his quest on Monday for international recognition as a government-in-waiting to topple President Bashar al-Assad. In a sign of the d...

By Phil Stewart Mon Nov 12, 2012 5:21pm EST ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Nov 12 - The United States will determine in the next several weeks how many troops it will keep in Afghanistan as part of a residual force following the drawdown of most combat forces at the end of 2014, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday. Panetta said the top U.S. an...

PARIS | Mon Nov 12, 2012 4:49pm EST PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Monday it was ready to start releasing almost $2 billion in frozen assets belonging to Libya's sovereign wealth fund, as it looks to secure investment from the oil-producing nation. France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius made the announcement during a visit to Tripoli, the latest in a...

By Ben Blanchard and Terril Yue Jones BEIJING | Mon Nov 12, 2012 4:20pm EST BEIJING (Reuters) - In 2007, a year before Beijing hosted the Olympics, China's Communist rulers made a special effort at a five-yearly congress to show the world transparency and grant rare open access to foreign media. This year's conclave is however overshadowed by Chi...

By Richard Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk KIEV | Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:29pm EST KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's re-energized opposition on Monday threatened President Viktor Yanukovich with impeachment and vowed to work to free ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko from jail as they set out an action program for the new parliament. The three parties, which in...

By Axel Bugge and Daniel Alvarenga LISBON | Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:25pm EST LISBON (Reuters) - Angela Merkel faced scattered protests on Monday in Lisbon, where she delivered German endorsement of a government austerity drive designed to honor a bailout loan but which critics fear may only deepen the slump. "The situation is difficult but what Portug...

By Rania El Gamal and Yasmine Saleh DOHA/CAIRO | Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:29pm EST DOHA/CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's newly named opposition leader, a soft-spoken cleric backed by Washington and the Gulf Arab states, launched his quest on Monday for international recognition of a government-in-waiting to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Mouaz Alkhatib, a ...

By Nigel Davies MADRID | Mon Nov 12, 2012 12:16pm EST MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos promised on Monday that no needy family will go homeless over mortgage arrears, responding to public fury at a homeowner's suicide as she was being evicted. Facing accusations that politicians and banks are complicit in de facto "murd...

By Rania El Gamal and Regan Doherty DOHA | Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:36am EST DOHA (Reuters) - Syria's new opposition leadership, painfully forged under Arab and Western pressure, set out on Monday to gather recognition and wider backing for the struggle to topple President Bashar al-Assad and take over the country. Reformist Damascus cleric Mouaz al-Kh...

TRIPOLI | Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:33am EST TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's former prime minister went on trial on Monday over allegations including corruption and of ordering mass rape during the war last year. Al Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi could face life in jail or execution if convicted. He...

By Daren Butler ISTANBUL | Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:26am EST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey should consider bringing back the death penalty, a decade after Ankara abolished capital punishment as part of reforms aimed at European Union membership. Political commentators ac...

MILAN | Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:22am EST MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Mario Monti said on Monday he would prefer not to stay on as prime minister after elections in April, despite widespread calls for him to do so. Monti was named as leader of a technocrat government last November when the financial crisis forced Italian government debt to levels that had trigge...

By Nigel Davies MADRID | Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:19am EST MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's top parties will tackle eviction law reform on Monday after a homeowner's suicide provoked public fury and accusations that politicians and banks are complicit in de facto "murder". Close to 400,000 Spaniards have lost their homes since a property bubble burst in 2008...

DUBAI | Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:20am EST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran launched military drills across half the country on Monday, warning it would act against aggressors less than a week after Washington accused Iranian warplanes of firing on a U.S. drone. The maneuvers will take place this week across 850,000 square kilometers (330,000 square miles) of Iran's nort...

By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM | Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:10am EST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Sporadic missile fire from the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel on Monday for a fourth straight day, with Egypt trying to secure a truce and Israel warning it would toughen its response if the violence continued. The Israeli military said Palestinian militants had fire...

By Axel Bugge and Daniel Alvarenga LISBON | Mon Nov 12, 2012 6:53am EST LISBON (Reuters) - Anti-austerity protesters draped Lisbon statues in black mourning sashes to greet Angela Merkel on Monday and a local business newspaper blamed the visiting German chancellor for "Frankenstein" policies driving Portugal into poverty. Merkel, who landed shor...

By Laura L. Myers TACOMA | Mon Nov 12, 2012 5:03am EST TACOMA (Reuters) - A shooting rampage in March that left 16 Afghans dead in two villages was the work of more than one person, an Afghan police investigator testified on Sunday, contradicting the U.S. government's account. Military prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Army Staff Serg...

By Nicholas Vinocur and Mark John PARIS | Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:15am EST PARIS (Reuters) - In a cafe near the former site of Paris's Bastille prison, activists held a meeting last month to decide whether to join unions in protesting the French government's belt-tightening. Only five people turned up at Cafe Maldoror, a favored haunt of the radical l...