Reuters: World News

• UK opposition calls for country-by-country tax reporting
  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour party, tapping into widening public anger over corporate tax avoidance, wants the government to push for new international rules to force companies to report profit and tax payments country-by-country.
  
  
  
  
• North Korea fires short-range missiles for two days in a row
  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast on Sunday, a day after launching three of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said, ignoring calls for restraint from Western powers.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• With president ailing, Algeria prepares for end of an era
  ALGIERS (Reuters) - Three weeks after being rushed to hospital in Paris, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has disappeared from sight, leaving behind a country preparing for a successor who for the first time will come from a generation too young to have fought in Algeria's war of independence against France.
  
  
  
  
• Tunisian police clash with Islamists over banned rally
  TUNIS (Reuters) - Supporters of a hardline Islamist group clashed with Tunisian police in two cities on Sunday after the government banned its annual rally and the regional arm of al Qaeda urged it to stand firm against the authorities.
  
  
  
  
• South Africa finds collusion, manipulation in Gupta scandal
  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's justice minister on Sunday accused an Indian High Commission official and some South Africans of colluding to obtain permission for a plane chartered by a rich family close to President Jacob Zuma to use an air force base to land.
  
  
  
  
• Bangladesh court orders action against factory owner in Nov fire
  DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladesh court on Sunday banned the owner of a garment factory that was destroyed in a fire in November from leaving the country as anger builds up over a string of deadly incidents in which thousands have died.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Syrian army, Hezbollah attack rebels in border town: opposition
  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian troops supported by Hezbollah militants launched an offensive to retake a major town near Lebanon from rebels on Sunday, the heaviest fighting yet involving Lebanese armed group, opposition activists said.
  
  
  
  
• Germans blame euro zone crisis for Eurovision debacle
  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel's tough stance in the euro zone crisis for their failure to win any points from 34 of the 39 countries voting.
  
  
  
  
• 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.
  
  
  
  
• 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.