Spain’s popular prince must charm Catalonia as king
MADRID (Reuters) – Many Spaniards are hoping for a lot more than polish and glamour from new King Felipe VI when he takes the throne on Thursday after his father’s surprise abdication.
Buoyed by EU vote, Italy’s Renzi seeks change in Brussels
ROME (Reuters) – It has been a long time since an Italian leader went to Brussels with as strong a hand as the one held by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, whose triumph in last month’s European elections left him with a big say on who should head the EU C…
Libya says fuel smuggling to Malta increasing
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Large amounts of fuel are being smuggled from Libya to Malta – even as angry motorists queue in Tripoli and the state oil firm struggles to deliver due to a lack of security at petrol stations
Maliki stands with Sunni leaders, appealing for Iraqi unity
BAGHDAD(Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki broadcast a joint appeal for national unity on Tuesday with bitter Sunni critics of his Shi’ite-led government – a move that may help him win U.S. help against rampant Islamists threatening Baghdad…
Ukraine’s Poroshenko proposes envoy to Germany as foreign minister
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday nominated Pavlo Klimkin, currently ambassador to Germany, as his candidate for foreign minister, the parliamentary website said.
Thai military proposes new scheme to help rice producers
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s ruling military will develop a scheme to help rice farmers cover costs, a top officer said on Wednesday, in place of a scandal-plagued and costly price support program that helped drive the former prime minister from offi…
Kosovo Serbs remove bridge barricade under EU-brokered thaw
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Serbs in the ethnically-divided Kosovo town of Mitrovica removed a barricade blocking the main bridge on Wednesday, the latest sign of a tentative thaw between Serbs and Albanians six years after Kosovo seceded from Serbia.
China scolds Vietnam for ‘hyping up’ South China Sea oil rig row
HANOI/BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top diplomat scolded Vietnamese officials during talks in Hanoi on Wednesday for “hyping up” a row over a Chinese oil rig drilling in disputed waters in the South China Sea, in tough comments that suggest relations wil…
Sunni militants control ’75 percent’ of Iraq’s Baiji refinery: official
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Sunni militants have taken control of most of Iraq’s largest oil refinery, located in Baiji in northern Iraq, an official at the refinery said on Wednesday.
At least 13 killed in bombing of Nigeria World Cup viewing venue
DAMATURU Nigeria (Reuters) – At least 13 people including young children were killed when a bomb tore through a venue in northeast Nigeria where fans had gathered to watch a World Cup soccer match, witnesses said.
