French PM Valls says no blackmail to pass labor reform: paper
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s prime minister, Manuel Valls, said on Sunday he will not commit blackmail by threatening to resign, as the government is facing opposition to pass the new labor reform.
U.N. seeks to build peace talks on fragile Syria truce
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A total of 135 people were killed in the first week of a partial truce in Syria in areas covered by the deal, a monitoring group said on Saturday, highlighting its fragile nature just days before the United Nations attempts to reconv…
Merkel slams anti-immigrant AfD, defends her refugee policy
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, saying it stirs up prejudice and polarizes society.
Merkel urges Greece to speed up efforts to shelter refugees
BERLIN (Reuters) – Greece needs to deliver quickly on its promise to provide accommodation for 50,000 refugees and the European Union should help Athens with this task, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a media interview published on Saturday.
Turkish police fire tear gas at protesters, EU laments rights record
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Saturday to disperse protesters outside the country’s biggest newspaper after authorities seized control of it in a crackdown on a religious group whose leader the government accu…
Taliban says rejects ‘futile’ Afghanistan peace talks
KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban said on Saturday it would not take part in peace talks brokered by representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, casting doubt on efforts to revive negotiations.
U.N. Security Council pushes peace deal implementation in Mali
TIMBUKTU, Mali (Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council traveled to northern Mali on Saturday to push for implementation of a fragile peace deal aimed at ending a cycle of internal uprisings and allowing the government to combat the growing thre…
U.N. chief visits refugee camps to push for Western Sahara conflict talks
TINDOUF, Algeria (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Sahrawi refugee camps in southern Algeria on Saturday as part of efforts to restart negotiations to end a dispute between the Polisario independence movement and Morocco over the W…
Rivals Turkey and Iran seek to ‘manage differences’
ISTANBUL/DUBAI (Reuters) – Turkey and Iran, two countries on opposite sides of Syria’s civil war, agreed they must cooperate to end sectarian strife, including support for a fragile ceasefire, in the region after their leaders met in Tehran on Saturday…
Prominent Sudanese politician Hassan al-Turabi dies aged 84
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Prominent Sudanese politician Hassan al-Turabi, a veteran Islamist and leader of the opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP), has died at the age of 84, medical sources said on Saturday.
