(Reuters) – Senate Democrats on Thursday chose current Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada as their minority leader for the next congressional session, which begins in January, according to Senator Dianne Feinstein. Republicans gain political control of the Senate next
Turkey is to issue work permits for some of the 1.5 million Syrian war refugees it is hosting, its labour minister said on Thursday, dismissing fears it would harm local workers. “We will grant a certain number of our Syrian
For those who dismiss beauty contests as parades of dream-girls gushing about world peace, Puerto Rican bombshell Valerie Hernandez Matias offers a twist: a serious political agenda. The newly crowned Miss International told AFP she hopes to pay back her
The Bank of England on Wednesday trimmed its forecast for British growth, citing economic strains in the neighbouring eurozone. With the BoE predicting also lower inflation despite long-awaited wages growth, analysts said Britain’s central bank was unlikely to raise its
Hundreds of volunteers on Wednesday began removing the nearly 900,000 blood-red ceramic poppies from an installation at the Tower of London to honour the UK forces killed in World War I. The artwork has proved hugely popular, with more than
(Reuters) – More than 400 health workers at the only Ebola treatment center in southern Sierra Leone went on strike on Wednesday over unpaid risk allowances the government is meant to fund, officials said. The clinic in Bandajuma in Bo
Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority on Wednesday imposed fines totalling £1.1 billion ($1.7 billion, 1.4 billion euros) on five banks to settle allegations of foreign exchange rigging. The FCA regulator said in a statement it had fined British banks HSBC and
NEW YORK (AP) — Buck Showalter and Matt Williams won the Manager of the Year awards Tuesday, turning a Beltway double play. Showalter took the American League prize for the third time after guiding Baltimore to its first division title
(AFP) A man has burned himself to death in Tokyo in an apparent protest against Japan’s controversial move to expand the role of its military, local media said Wednesday, after a similar incident earlier this year. The unidentified man’s body
The European probe Philae has made the first-ever landing on a comet, a crowning phase in a quest to explore the origins of the Solar System, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Wednesday. The robot lab landed on Comet
French lawmakers will vote on November 28 on a proposal by the Socialist Party urging the government to recognise Palestine as a state, a parliamentary source said Wednesday. The non-binding but highly symbolic vote would follow a similar vote in
(Reuters) – About 13.6 million people, equivalent to the population of London, have been displaced by conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and many are without food or shelter as winter starts, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday. Amin
CAIRO (AP) — Two car bombs and an explosion struck Wednesday in two eastern Libyan cities that are temporary homes to the nation’s elected parliament and government, inflicting an unspecified number of casualties, officials said. The attacks were a worrisome
Leading liberal thinkers such as Thomas Friedman often lament that the U.S. can’t be “China for a day,” with a single day set aside for a dictatorial government to avoid the messiness of democracy and simply impose the radical policies
WASHINGTON (AP) — Military veterans and active-duty service members were among the swarm of music fans who packed the National Mall on Tuesday for a free Veterans Day concert, bouncing to Rihanna, head-banging to Metallica and cheering protest anthems from
The opium business is booming in Afghanistan, despite a 12-year, $7.6 billion counternarcotics initiative by the U.S. Last year, Afghans devoted a record 209,000 hectares of land to opium poppy cultivation, and those crops produced drug profits 50 percent higher
(Reuters) – A group of Turkish ultra-nationalists attacked three U.S. sailors on a crowded street in Istanbul on Wednesday, shouting “Yankee go home” and trying to pull hoods over their heads in an assault condemned by the U.S. embassy. Video
This article was originally posted in Vanity Fair. In 1956, Martin Greenfield was a twentysomething Czech immigrant working as a tailor at the well-regarded Brooklyn suit maker GGG Clothes. Greenfield had gotten in the door, in 1947, with the help
The College Football Playoff Committee released its rankings Tuesday night. Mississippi St. remains atop the rankings, Oregon jumped ahead of Florida State into second, FSU drops to third after numerous unimpressive wins, and TCU–not Alabama–jumps into fourth after Auburn’s loss
BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State group and other extremists in Syria have killed more than 860 people, including civilians, since they began in mid-September, a monitoring group said Wednesday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Hong Kong students plan to occupy roads surrounding the city’s British consulate in anger at a lack of support from London for their pro-democracy movement, as authorities ramp up pressure on protesters to go home. The city’s government has urged
Students in Maryland’s upscale Montgomery County may not get any holidays next year. They’ll still have plenty of days off from school. But a draft school calendar, approved overwhelmingly by the county’s board of education, specifically avoids mentioning Christmas, Easter,
Of the thousands of veterans I’ve met over the years, I cannot recall any who have sought recognition for their service. More often than not, they instead tell me they were “just doing their job.” Yet their profession, the defense
Nov 11 (Reuters) – Russia will build two new nuclear power plant units in Iran under an agreement signed in Moscow on Tuesday between subsidiaries of the two countries’ state atomic agencies. The agreement precedes a Nov. 24 deadline for
NEW YORK (AP) — Eager to go on a long-overdue playoff run, the New York Mets realized they owed their pitching staff — and fans — a proven hitter. On Monday, they got one. The Mets made baseball’s first splash
