BEIRUT – Peace envoy Kofi Annan said yesterday he was “frustrated and impatient” a week after a massacre in Syria of 108 people shocked the world, and there were signs Russia might be moving closer to the West’s position on tackling the crisis.
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WASHINGTON – A grim U.S. jobs report put President Barack Obama on the defensive over the weak economy yesterday with Republican opponent Mitt Romney quickly seizing on what he called “devastating news” on the top issue for American voters.
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ATHENS – Greece’s debt crisis threatened to turn into an energy crunch yesterday, with the power regulator calling an emergency meeting next week to avert a collapse of the country’s electricity and natural gas system.
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DUBLIN – Irish voters backed the European Union’s new fiscal treaty in a referendum yesterday, saving Europe a major headache but leaving the government little time to celebrate as problems across the euro zone continue to weigh at home.
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KHOST, Afghanistan – NATO and Afghan forces killed 14 insurgents during a rebel attack on a foreign military base in the eastern city of Khost on Friday, the coalition said, in one of the heaviest rebel tolls in a single incident in weeks.
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MILAN – Pope Benedict and his deputy, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, regarded as the chief target of a campaign of leaks, appeared side by side yesterday at the start of a visit to Milan that is unlikely to provide much respite from the scandal.
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ABU DHABI – A visit by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander to three tiny islands near the Strait of Hormuz oil shipping lane has revived a bitter territorial dispute between Gulf antagonists – and trade partners – Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
