Ex-pope Benedict suffering from debilitating disease, says brother
BERLIN (Reuters) – Former Pope Benedict is suffering from a disease of his nervous system which means he often needs to use a wheelchair, his brother Georg Ratzinger told a German weekly, adding that he feared the paralysis could spread to his heart.
Lebanese presidency denies U.S. Secretary of State kept waiting at palace
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Lebanese presidency denied that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had been kept waiting ahead of a meeting with President Michel Aoun on Thursday at the presidential palace, where he sat for several minutes before his Lebanes…
U.S. defense chief says talks with Turkey on Syria ‘open and honest’
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Thursday that the United States and Turkey, NATO allies, would press on with their collaboration over Syria despite their areas of difference.
Greece says won’t tolerate challenge to its rights after Turkish collision
ATHENS (Reuters) – Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Thursday Greece would not tolerate any challenge to its territorial integrity, days after Turkish and Greek coastguard vessels collided close to disputed islets in the Aegean Sea.
Shunned by family, Oxfam ex-director bemoans ‘lies’: paper
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The former Oxfam director at the heart of a sex abuse scandal has told a newspaper in his native Belgium that he did not deny all the allegations made against him but complained of “many lies and exaggerations”.
Russian opposition leader Navalny says access to his website being blocked
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Thursday that Internet providers in Russia had started blocking access to his website on the orders of the country’s communications watchdog.
Italy’s Berlusconi takes credit for ending the Cold War
ROME (Reuters) – Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has made many claims in the course of Italy’s rough-and-tumble election campaign, and on Thursday he added another: he was the key architect behind the end of the Cold War.
U.S. Secretary of State kept waiting at Lebanese palace
BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was kept waiting at Lebanon’s presidential palace for several minutes before his Lebanese counterpart greeted him ahead of talks with President Michel Aoun on Thursday.
South Africa starts walk back to post-Zuma rehabilitation
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africans awoke to a nation without Jacob Zuma as president for the first time in nine years on Thursday, after the scandal-plagued head of state reluctantly resigned on orders from the ruling African National Congress (AN…
Moon’s chief of staff takes center stage in inter-Korean detente
SEOUL (Reuters) – In 1989, a 22-year-old South Korean student caused an uproar when she sneaked into North Korea and was filmed advocating for unification and meeting then leader Kim Il Sung.
