Iraqi forces slowed by snipers and bombs in Tikrit
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi’ite militia fought Islamic State fighters in Tikrit on Thursday, a day after they pushed into Saddam Hussein’s home city in their biggest offensive yet against the militants.
Iceland confirms will not enter EU membership talks
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) – Iceland will not start negotiations with the European Union about joining the bloc, its foreign ministry said, confirming the ruling party’s 2013 election promise and formalizing a freeze on accession talks since it came to power….
U.S. students losing interest in China as dream jobs prove elusive
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – American students are getting cold feet about studying Chinese in China, with many study abroad programs in the country seeing a substantial drop in enrolment over the last few years.
About 25 people may be under rubble of fire in Russia’s Kazan: Ifax
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Around 25 people may have been killed and are still under the rubble of a shopping center that caught fire in the Russian city of Kazan, Interfax news agency cited the head of the regional emergencies ministry as saying on Thursday.
Rival Libyan parliament says eastern port force tried selling oil on its own
SKHIRAT, Morocco/BENGHAZI (Reuters) – Libya’s rival parliament has accused forces loyal to the country’s official government of trying to arrange a crude oil sale from outside the Tripoli-based state oil firm NOC, a deputy speaker of the parliament sai…
Netanyahu’s main challenger widens lead in Israeli pre-election polls
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a last-minute media blitz on Thursday to counter what appears to be a rising tide of support for his main opponent in next week’s election, the centrist Zionist Union.
Nemtsov killing exposes cracks in Kremlin unity
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The killing of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov within sight of the Kremlin has exposed rarely seen tensions between different camps inside President Vladimir Putin’s system of rule.
French experts hunt for Argentina helicopter crash clues
VILLA CASTELLI, Argentina (Reuters) – French and Argentine investigators scoured the charred wreckage of two helicopters in a rugged region of western Argentina on Thursday for clues to what caused an in-flight collision that killed 10 people, includin…
EU to tighten border checks to try to detect Syria fighters
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European countries will carry out by June deeper checks on EU citizens entering the passport-free Schengen area, based on a set of “common risk indicators” aimed at singling out fighters returning from war zones and other dangerous…
EU executive plans no new data retention law
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission will not introduce a new law requiring telecom companies to store the communications data of European Union citizens for security purposes, the EU home affairs commissioner said on Thursday.
