Ukip leader Nigel Farage was forced to retreat into a police van after encountering angry protesters in Edinburgh. More »Nigel Farage's Edinburgh humiliation: Protesters chant 'scum!' at Ukip leader
By Matt Scuffham LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in state-backed Lloyds Banking Group rose above the level which the government sees as its break-even price after its 20.5 billion pound rescue of the bank, raising hopes of a sale this year. Lloyds shares, the top performer in the FTSE-100 last year, rose 2.5 percent to reach 62.5 pence at 13:00 p.m. on Friday, their highest for over two years and passing the 61.2 pence break-even price. ... More »Shares in Lloyds hit government break-even price
By Christine Murray LONDON (Reuters) - The government said on Friday it had hired a team of auditors to investigate whether it was overcharged on two contracts with outsourcing firms Serco and G4S. The Ministry of Justice said auditors from professional services firm PWC would examine two contracts signed in 2005 which together cost the department 107 million pounds in 2012/13 for electronic tagging and monitoring of offenders released from prison. ... More »Government launches investigation into two Serco, G4S contracts
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish primary school teachers overwhelmingly backed a call to strike if the government unilaterally cuts their pay, but their trade union leaders will first rejoin fresh talks aimed at finding a compromise. Public sector workers last month rejected extending a three-year-old pay deal, upsetting government plans to make deeper budget cuts and raising the threat of strikes in a country that has seen no major industrial unrest during its EU-IMF bailout. ... More »Irish teachers back strike call if government cuts pay
By Erika Solomon 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. Sectarian bloodshed in neighbouring Iraq during Friday prayers, a hacking attack on a Western newspaper by sympathisers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and defiant comments by a rebel commander filmed eating a slain soldier's flesh were all reminders of how the two-year-old civil war is metastising. ... More »U.S. chides Russia over missiles as peace plans suffer
By Nick Tattersall WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday it would be up to the U.N. Security Council to decide whether to establish a no-fly zone inside Syria and said he backed the involvement of Russia and China in planned peace talks. Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington a day after discussing Syria with President Barack Obama, Erdogan said a no-fly zone could be discussed at a planned international conference on Syria backed by Washington and Moscow. Turkey, a U.S. ... More »Turkey's Erdogan says U.N. must decide on any Syria no-fly zone
By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer on Friday condemned Russia's shipment of advanced anti-ship missiles to Syria, saying it could embolden President Bashar al-Assad's forces to keep fighting a bloody civil war. "It's at the very least an unfortunate decision that will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering," General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon when asked about the weapons shipment. "So it's ill-timed and very unfortunate," he said. ... More »Russian missiles to Syria could embolden Assad - U.S. general warns
By Mariam Karouny 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. Al Qaeda's Iraq-based wing, which nurtured Nusra in the early stages of the rebellion against Assad, has moved in and sidelined the organisation, Nusra sources and other rebels say. ... More »Insight - Syria's Nusra Front eclipsed by Iraq-based al Qaeda
By Mia Shanley STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Bare-chested Irish drummers, a Ukrainian giant and a much-discussed lesbian kiss will be on display at this Saturday's Eurovision final in Sweden which - love it or hate it - promises plenty of pop, kitsch and barefoot ballads. Some 26 countries will compete for the jewel in the crown of European pop in the homeland of former Swedish supergroup ABBA, one of Eurovision's most successful winners. ... More »Eurovision returns to ABBA's homeland with pop and kitsch
By Margarita Antidze and Liza Dobkina TBILISI/ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Large crowds of anti-gay protesters broke up homosexual rights rallies in Georgia and Russia on Friday, underlining deep hostility in the former Soviet bloc. Priests and thousands of Georgians pushed their way through police barriers protecting around 50 people marking International Day Against Homophobia in a square in capital Tblisi. Waving banners marked with the slogans "Stop Homosexual Propaganda in Georgia" and "Not in our city", they forced the small groups of campaigners to flee in buses. ... More »Crowds break up gay rights rallies in Georgia, Russia
By Hereward Holland JUBA (Reuters) - Sudan's foreign minister said on Friday neighbour South Sudan had promised him it would not let rebels operate across their shared border, defusing a row that had threatened a key oil deal. The countries, which fought one of Africa's longest civil before a 2005 peace deal, agreed in March to resume cross-border crude exports and defuse tensions that have plagued them since South Sudan's secession in 2011. ... More »Sudans defuse row over rebel support, promise more talks
By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - European Union officials will next week propose capping financial sector pay above 500,000 euros, accountancy firm PwC said on Friday, suggesting the world's most stringent curbs for the industry will affect far more bankers than previous rules. The European Banking Authority will next week for the first time put a number on where it would like its planned bonus cap to start and PwC said in a statement that the threshold would be set at 500,000 euros. ... More »EU bonus cap could hit 10 times as many London bankers
By Lanre Ola 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. Troops used jets and helicopters to bombard targets in their biggest offensive since the Boko Haram group launched a revolt almost four years ago to establish a breakaway Islamic state and one military source said at least 30 militants had been killed. ... More »Nigeria bombs Islamists, U.S. sounds alarm
Conservative strategists have reportedly begun planning for the premature collapse of the coalition. More »Conservatives contemplate the divorce card
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos hinted on Friday that he would seek re-election next year to ensure continuity of his policies, though he did not explicitly announce his candidacy. Santos told reporters that he would make a formal announcement by the November deadline. "I want clearly and firmly to see that the government's policies continue after August 7, 2014," said Santos, referring to the date a new administration would take office. "I want the peace policy re-elected, I want the housing policy re-elected, those that have reduced poverty - re-elected. ... More »Colombia's Santos hints he will run for re-election in 2014
LONDON (Reuters) - Google Inc's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is due to meet Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday as a participant of an advisory group just days after MPs lambasted the Internet company's tax affairs. The meeting is a routine one and has been long-planned, will include other high-profile business people, and tax evasion is not on the agenda, a government source told Reuters. ... More »Google's Schmidt to meet Cameron as tax row rages
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's parliament evicted a far-right lawmaker for insulting rivals in a tumultuous debate on Friday that prompted jeers of "Heil Hitler" from a leftist deputy and bolstered calls to crack down on the nationalist Golden Dawn party. Tapping into resentment over budget cuts and illegal immigration in the crisis-hit country, Golden Dawn has emerged from obscurity to become Greece's third-biggest party, polling nearly 12 percent. ... More »Greek parliament evicts far-right lawmaker for volley of insults
By Kim Dixon and Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The outgoing head of the Internal Revenue Service provided little help on Friday to lawmakers investigating who at the tax-collection agency was responsible for targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny. As Congress kicked off the first of several investigations into a scandal that has put President Barack Obama on the defensive, acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller said he could not say who had come up with the idea to single out conservative groups for intense scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. ... More »IRS chief declines to identify employees involved in scandal
By Roberta Rampton and Mark Felsenthal BALTIMORE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday sought to turn the spotlight from controversies threatening to swamp his agenda back to his top priority - the economy - and announced he will try to cut in half the time it takes to get federal approval for large job-creating projects. Obama travelled to Baltimore, a short helicopter ride from the White House, to talk about steps he is taking to streamline permits for infrastructure, early childhood education, and positive signs in the economy. ... More »After tough week, Obama tries to change the subject to jobs
By Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European officials gave a lukewarm response to French President Francois Hollande's sweeping proposals for deeper euro zone integration on Friday, noting that many of his ideas were already in circulation. In a 2-1/2-hour news conference at the Elysee Palace on Thursday, Hollande set out plans for an "economic government" for the 17 euro zone countries, including its own budget and a full-time president. ... More »Brussels, Berlin lukewarm on Hollande's euro zone vision