EU to offer Africans aid, other benefits to cut migration: plan
VALLETTA (Reuters) – The European Union has offered African states a range of aid as well as easier visa access and lower costs for migrants sending cash home in return for help to curb migration into the EU, including by taking back illegal immigrants…
Growing number of asylum seekers opt for Arctic route to enter Europe
KIRKENES, Norway (Reuters) – As winter sets in, Norway’s Arctic frontier with Russia is becoming one of the fastest-growing routes for asylum seekers to enter Western Europe, despite being inhospitable, cold and — soon — permanently dark.
Court move deepens Spanish standoff over Catalan secession
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Constitutional Court blocked Catalonia’s attempted secession process on Wednesday by agreeing to hear a Spanish government appeal against it, deepening a stand-off over the potential breakaway.
Putin says Russia needs own investigation into doping allegations
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia needed to conduct its own investigation into allegations its athletes had systematically taken performance-enhancing substances and that someone needed to take personal respons…
Vatican leaks scandal widens as authors investigated, others suspected
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A leaks scandal rocking the papacy widened on Wednesday as the Vatican put two Italian journalists under investigation and said it suspected other Holy See officials had helped two arrested for stealing documents.
Montreal begins controversial sewage dump into St. Lawrence River
MONTREAL (Reuters) – Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city, began dumping untreated sewage into the St. Lawrence River on Wednesday, angering environmentalists with a repair operation that could release as much as 8 billion liters (2.1 billion gallons…
Assad’s opponents dismiss Russian ideas for solving Syria crisis
BEIRUT/DUBAI (Reuters) – Syrian opposition figures and Gulf commentators dismissed on Wednesday a Russian draft proposal for a process to solve the Syrian crisis, saying Moscow’s aim was to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power and marginalize dissen…
EU moves ahead with labeling goods made in Israeli settlements
BRUSSELS/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The European Union published new guidelines on Wednesday for labeling products made in Israeli settlements, a move Brussels said was technical but Israel branded “discriminatory” and damaging to peace efforts with the Pal…
Troops could be sent to Burundi if violence worsens: diplomats
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Key Western powers and the United Nations are discussing the possible deployment of international peacekeepers to Burundi if the violence in the African country spirals into a full-scale ethnic conflict, diplomats said on Wed…
Jordanian killer was on a journey to ‘paradise or hell’
AMMAN (Reuters) – Days before he shot dead five people in a canteen during his lunch break, Jordanian police officer Anwar Abu Zeid sent a message to friends saying he was going on a journey to “paradise or hell”, friends and security sources said.
