China defends defense spending rise as low, proportional
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese state media on Tuesday defended the country’s 8.1 percent budgeted increase in military spending for this year as proportionate and low, saying Beijing has not been goaded into an arms race with the United States.
German coalition deal no ‘blank cheque’ for Europe, conservative tells SPD
BERLIN (Reuters) – A senior conservative lawmaker on Tuesday told Germany’s Social Democrats they would jeopardize a hard-fought coalition agreement if they went overboard with spending plans for Europe.
North Korea leader wants to advance Korea ties, makes agreement with South: KCNA
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met senior South Korean government officials for the first time and said it is his “firm will to vigorously advance” inter-Korean ties and pursue reunification, the North’s official news agency said on …
U.S. judge rejects injunction bid in sanctuary cities fight
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Monday rejected California’s request for a pretrial injunction to force the federal government to fund a law enforcement grant that has been delayed in a dispute over the state’s so-called sanctuary city polici…
Aid reaches Ghouta but retreats after shelling; Syria presses assault
BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) – Aid trucks reached Syria’s eastern Ghouta region on Monday for the first time since the start of one of the war’s deadliest assaults, but the government stripped some medical supplies from the convoy and pressed on with its ai…
Former Russian spy critically ill in Britain after exposure to unidentified substance
LONDON (Reuters) – Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who was convicted by Russia of betraying agents to British intelligence, was critically ill on Monday after exposure to an unidentified substance in Britain, two sources close to the investigation t…
Greenland PM calls parliamentary vote in April
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Greenland’s Prime Minister Kim Kielsen has called parliamentary elections for next month, local media reported on Monday.
Germany to start work on trade, China, Syria war: Merkel
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she would work with France to tackle pressing issues such as trade policy, the war in Syria and competition with China after the Social Democrats (SPD) approved joining a coalition with her con…
With few illusions, Carlos the Jackal appeals last of three life sentences
PARIS (Reuters) – Carlos the Jackal, a left-wing revolutionary who was once one of the world’s most wanted militants, appeared in a French court on Monday to fight a life-in-jail conviction for a grenade attack that killed two people in a Paris store 4…
Irish PM says U.S.-Canada border not an example for N.Ireland border issue
DUBLIN (Reuters) – The border between the United States and Canada does not provide an example for how to solve the issue of the future border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Monday.
