Close Merkel ally de Maiziere rejects charges he lied
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s interior minister, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, denied on Wednesday charges he lied to parliament about German intelligence cooperation with U.S. spy agencies, but remained under fire over a string of blunders….
Chile president seeks to clean up politics, embark on new constitution
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chilean President Michelle Bachelet attempted to draw a line under recent scandals that have angered Chileans and hit her popularity, announcing measures to regulate political financing, and setting a date to draw up a new constitu…
Bahrain sentences man to death for killing policeman: agency
MANAMA (Reuters) – A Bahraini man was sentenced to death on Wednesday for a bomb attack last year that killed a policemen, the state news agency reported.
Hungary PM revives death penalty debate, draws EU concern
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, under pressure from a eurosceptic right, said on Wednesday it wanted to raise the question of a possible reintroduction of the death penalty with its European Union partners.
Eurogroup’s Dijsselbloem says Greece will not make it without aid
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The head of the Eurogroup said on Tuesday that a recent shakeup of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ negotiating team would not by itself resolve the impasse between Greece and its creditors, and Athens would need new loans to …
Egypt sentences 69 to prison for church attack: judicial sources
CAIRO (Reuters) – Sixty-nine suspected Muslim Brotherhood supporters were each sentenced to 25 years in prison in Egypt on Wednesday for attacking and burning a church in a village near Cairo in 2013, judicial sources said.
China fires back at South China Sea claimants with reclamation accusations
BEIJING (Reuters) – After facing weeks of criticism about its reclamation work on disputed islands in the South China Sea, China on Wednesday turned the tables on Vietnam, the Philippines and others by accusing them of carrying out their own illegal bu…
Egypt’s Sisi says parliamentary election to be held before year-end: El Mundo
MADRID (Reuters) – An Egyptian parliamentary election that was due in March will be held before the end of the year, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo in an interview published on Wednesday.
Forest fire near Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear zone under control: Prime Minister
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian fire fighters have contained a large forest fire that threatened to spread toward the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant and radiation levels in the area are normal, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Wednesday.
Maersk says crew of container vessel seized by Iran are safe
COPENHAGEN/LONDON (Reuters) – Danish shipping company Maersk said on Wednesday the crew of the Maersk Tigris container ship were safe and “in good spirits” after Iranian authorities seized the vessel in the Strait of Hormuz the previous day.
