Pope’s Egypt visit offers chance to improve Catholic-Muslim ties
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis will make a trip to Egypt next month, the Vatican said on Saturday, giving the pontiff another opportunity to promote better relations between Catholics and Muslims.
Germany’s Merkel calls for standardized European rules on using data
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Saturday for Europe to set about standardizing rules on using data in Europe, ahead of a visit to the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover where digitalization is expected to be in focus.
German Foreign Minister says Turkey further away from EU membership than ever
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in an interview with news magazine Der Spiegel published on Saturday that Turkey has never been less likely to join the European Union than now, as relations between Ankara and Berlin hit a…
Eleven candidates qualified for first round of French election
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Constitutional Council validated on Saturday eleven candidates to run in the first round of the French presidential elections on April 23.
Russian parliament backs investigation into U.S. media
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has approved a proposal to launch an investigation into U.S. media organizations that operate in Russia, it said in a statement posted on its web site late on Friday.
Ignoring Scottish referendum mandate would ‘shatter’ UK structure: Sturgeon
ABERDEEN, Scotland (Reuters) – Refusal by Britain’s prime minister to discuss an independence referendum would “shatter beyond repair” the United Kingdom’s constitutional structure, Nicola Sturgeon told her Scottish National Party on Saturday.
Former U.S. officials say ‘complex’ relationship with China needs ‘fresh start’
BEIJING (Reuters) – Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Saturday said that the Sino-American relationship had grown “increasingly difficult and complex” and required “a fresh start”.
Russia’s Putin, Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev discuss Syria on phone
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed the Syria crisis by phone, the Kremlin said on Saturday, after peace talks in Kazakhstan closed without any substantive negotiations.
Top NSA official ridicules allegation Britain spied on Trump
LONDON (Reuters) – Allegations from the United States that British spy agency GCHQ snooped on Donald Trump during his election campaign are “arrant nonsense”, the deputy head of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) said in an interview on Saturday.
Need to avoid civilian deaths weighs on minds of U.S. forces in Mosul battle
QAYYARA WEST AIRFIELD, Iraq (Reuters) – As the battle for Mosul moves to the narrow streets and densely packed houses of the Old City, U.S. artillery gunners and helicopter pilots supporting Iraqi forces face an age-old problem – how to avoid killing civilians.
