Poland expects to sign deal for eight Patriot missile defense systems by end-2017
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland expects that it will sign a deal with U.S. defense firm Raytheon to buy eight Patriot missile defense systems by the end of this year, Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said on Friday.
Germany balks at Tillerson call for more European NATO spending
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reassured his nervous European counterparts over Washington’s commitment to NATO on Friday and pressed them again to spend more on defense, triggering a rebuke from Germany.
Syrian government forces take back areas near Hama: monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Russian-backed Syrian army has recaptured 16 villages lost to insurgents last week near the city of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday.
Bomb near mosque in northwest Pakistan kills at least 22, wounds dozens
PARACHINAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A bomb apparently targeting a mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Parachinar killed at least 22 people on Friday and wounded dozens in an attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
In a letter to UK PM May, Scotland’s leader demands independence vote
LONDON (Reuters) – Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has written to Prime Minister Theresa May formally demanding that she allow a second referendum to be held on Scottish independence ahead of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.
China’s popular first lady takes the stage in Xi’s U.S. visit
BEIJING (Reuters) – Glamorous, popular and passionate about fighting AIDS, Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan is Beijing’s diplomatic not-so-secret weapon spreading Chinese soft power around the world.
South Africa’s ANC divided, Zuma weakened by cabinet reshuffle
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – President Jacob Zuma’s midnight sacking of his finance minister shook South African financial markets on Friday, undermining his authority and threatening to split the African National Congress (ANC) that has governed since the…
Paris commuter train tracks France’s political divide
PARIS/MALESHERBES, France (Reuters) – A 90-minute train ride from the Gare de Lyon station in Paris traces a political gulf between big-city voters and the rest, a divide that has shaken up Britain and the United States and has an outside chance of doi…
Indian abattoirs end strike on assurances of no Hindu party crackdown
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Abattoirs and meat sellers across India called off a four-day strike on Friday after the state government of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state, gave assurances that mainly Muslim-run, unlicensed slaughter houses would not be …
Tillerson meets wife of U.S. pastor jailed in Turkey
ANKARA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with the wife of a jailed American pastor, Andrew Brunson, in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday night, a State Department official said on Friday.
