Ukraine’s parliament approves 2015 budget
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s parliament backed a budget for 2015 on Monday that it had been under pressure to approve to secure the next tranche of financial aid under a $17 billion International Monetary Fund loan package, the Interfax news agency repor…
Obama: Iran has ‘chance to get right with the world’ – NPR
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iran could become a “very successful regional power” if Tehran agrees to a long-term deal to curb its nuclear program, President Barack Obama said in an interview with NPR News.
Storm forces Turkey to shut Dardanelles to tankers, cancel flights
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey shut its Dardanelles Strait to tankers and its flag carrier canceled some domestic and international flights in and out of Istanbul due to a storm.
Fire damages Swedish mosque in second suspected arson attack
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Fire ripped through a Swedish mosque early on Monday in the second suspected arson attack on a Muslim center in four days in a country caught up in a fierce debate on immigration.
Russia’s Lavrov sees chance to solve Ukraine crisis in 2015: Interfax
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sees a real opportunity to solve the Ukraine crisis in 2015, Interfax news agency quoted him as saying on Monday.
Gmail blocked in China
BEIJING (Reuters) – Google Inc’s Gmail was blocked in China after months of disruptions to the world’s biggest email service, with an anti-censorship advocate suggesting the Great Firewall was to blame.
Rise of Spanish populists overturns two-party system
MADRID (Reuters) – The sudden rise of a new anti-establishment party has transformed Spanish politics a year before a general election, forcing the center-right government to veer away from austerity and the left-leaning opposition to scramble for new …
Amid hacking tensions, South Korea proposes resuming talks with North
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea proposed on Monday to resume stalled talks with North Korea, an overture that comes amid heightened diplomatic tension after Seoul’s key ally the United States blamed the North for a cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainm…
Hopes dim Egypt to release Australian Al Jazeera journalist soon
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Hopes are fading for the release of Australian journalist Peter Greste, who has been in jail in Egypt for a year, after Cairo sent mixed signals about his case, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday.
In U.S.-Cuba prisoner swap, mystery surrounds the unnamed 53
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba’s most prominent dissidents say they have been kept in the dark by U.S. officials over a list of 53 political prisoners who will be released from jail as part of a deal to end decades of hostility between the United States and C…