Italian PM Renzi welcomes Putin but mentions differences
MILAN (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi welcomed visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday but showed little sign of breaking ranks with international partners over European Union sanctions against Moscow.
Turkish PM to convene security meeting over Kurdish unrest: source
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will meet with the head of the armed forces and other top security officials on Thursday to discuss unrest in the mainly Kurdish southeast, a source in his office said.
UK’s Cameron faces calls to issue impact analysis on possible EU exit
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s opposition Labour Party has demanded Prime Minister David Cameron give voters an independent analysis of the financial impact of a possible exit from the European Union ahead of an in-out membership referendum.
China military conducts drills near Taiwan, Philippines
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese warships and aircraft on Wednesday passed through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines to hold routine planned exercises in the Western Pacific, China’s Defense Ministry said.
U.S. Defense Department civilian killed in attack on Afghan base
KABUL (Reuters) – A U.S. Department of Defense civilian employee has been killed in Afghanistan in a rocket attack on the sprawling Bagram military base, a spokesman for the U.S. military said on Wednesday.
China’s Panchen Lama promises Xi he will uphold national unity
BEIJING (Reuters) – A youth named by China as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, but reviled as a fake by many Tibetans, on Wednesday told President Xi Jinping he backed national unity and would strive to meet the Communist Party’s expectat…
Migrants race through Italy to dodge EU asylum rules
BOLZANO, Italy (Reuters) – Last month, Dejen Asefaw was rescued with hundreds of other migrants in the Mediterranean Sea and brought to Sicily. The 24-year-old graduate from Eritrea, who endured forced military service and prison at home, hopes to be granted asylum in Europe.
Tunisian court annuls confiscation of ousted president’s assets
TUNIS (Reuters) – A Tunisian court has annulled a 2011 decree confiscating the assets of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his inner circle after an appeal from the Ben Ali family, infuriating the government.
U.S. urges Vatican to get tough with Putin on Ukraine
ROME (Reuters) – The United States urged the Vatican on Wednesday to criticize Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict more forcefully, hours before Pope Francis was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
‘Blood antiquities’: a wound the world struggles to staunch
PARIS (Reuters) – Off a corridor at world culture agency UNESCO’s star-shaped Paris headquarters, a modest office with potted plants and three small desks has become the war room in the fight against looted antiquities from Iraq and Syria.
