Turkey says campaign against U.S.-backed Kurdish force in Syria will be swift
HASSA, Turkey (Reuters) – Turkey shelled targets in northern Syria on Monday and said it would swiftly crush the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG fighters who control the Afrin region, amid growing international concern over its three-day-old military operation…
Berlusconi backs EU rules on deficits ahead of election
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Monday that his Forza Italia (Go Italy) party would seek to ensure that Italy respected the EU’s limit on budget deficits if it was elected to power.
Catalan crisis rekindled as parliament proposes Puigdemont as leader
MADRID/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Catalonia’s parliament nominated former leader Carles Puigdemont, sacked by Spain for unilaterally declaring independence, as candidate to rule the region again in a sign of defiance to Madrid and Prime Minister Mariano Ra…
France says Iran not respecting U.N. text on ballistic missiles
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – France’s foreign minister accused Iran on Monday of not respecting part of a U.N. resolution that calls on Tehran to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads.
Pence, in Jerusalem, says honoured to be in ‘Israel’s capital’
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence pointedly referred to Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Monday as he met the country’s leader, further vexing Palestinians who have already snubbed his visit over a U.S. policy shift towards the holy …
Catalonia’s Puigdemont lands in Denmark as Spain seeks new warrant
COPENHAGEN/MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s prosecutor sought on Monday to reactivate a European arrest warrant against Carles Puigdemont, as the former Catalan leader landed in Denmark for his first trip away from Belgium in three months of self-imposed exi…
Germany’s SPD want to renegotiate key issues in coalition talks with Merkel
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) want to renegotiate key issues agreed in a blueprint for a coalition with the conservatives during formal coalition talks that the center-left party narrowly voted for, leader Martin Schulz said on Mo…
Rescuers in rebel-held Syrian area accuse government of gas attack
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Rescue workers in a Syrian rebel-held enclave east of Damascus accused government forces of using chlorine gas during bombardment of the area on Monday, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 13 people had suffered…
French jail guards start nationwide strike in showdown with government
PARIS (Reuters) – French prison guards launched a nationwide strike on Monday in a showdown with President Emmanuel Macron’s government over staff levels and violence that they say is spiraling out of control inside the country’s overcrowded jails.
Iraq parliament confirms May 12 as date for elections: State TV
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s parliament has confirmed May 12 as the date for holding a parliamentary election, state TV reported on Monday.
