Russia holds military exercises in Baltic in response to NATO
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has begun military exercises in its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad in what the Defence Ministry said was a response to drills by NATO allies in parts of eastern Europe that were launched after Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine.
Italian PM faces party revolt over constitutional reform
ROME (Reuters) – Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s plans to reform Italian politics suffered a setback on Thursday when 13 senators from his center-left Democratic Party (PD) withdrew their backing in protest against his moves for constitutional change.
Troops gather at Congo-Rwanda border after clashes
KINSHASA/KIGALI (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda sent extra troops to their shared border on Thursday after gunfire briefly broke out for the second day, ending months of relative calm in the volatile region.
French rail strike to continue Friday
PARIS (Reuters) – French trade unions said they will extend for another day a strike that has caused the worst disruption to the country’s rail network in years, following an inconclusive meeting with the transport minister on Thursday.
Libyan motorists’ patience wears thin as many petrol stations shut for week
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Angry motorists in Libya’s capital Tripoli queued to fill up on Thursday, some having slept in their cars for nights as petrol stations awaited promised supplies from a state oil firm.
Iran says it is redesigning Arak reactor to cut plutonium capacity
DUBAI/VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran is “busy redesigning” a planned research reactor to sharply cut its potential output of plutonium, a senior Iranian official said in comments that seemed to address a thorny issue in negotiations with big powers.
China struggles to assure people of stability in wake of violent attacks
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese residents and investors believe in the “illusion” that explosions and murder are rampant in the unrest-plagued far-west region of Xinjiang, an official said on Thursday, in the wake of knife and bomb attacks that have shaken…
Drones hit Taliban hideouts in ‘joint Pakistan-U.S.’ raid, say officials
ISLAMABAD/MIRANSHAH (Reuters) – U.S. drones fired missiles at Taliban hideouts in Pakistan killing at least 10 militants in response to a deadly attack on Karachi airport, officials said on Thursday, in the first such raids by unmanned CIA aircraft in …
Turkish protest organizers go on trial, face up to 30 years in jail
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Twenty-six people went on trial in Istanbul on Thursday on charges related to organizing anti-government protests last year in a case that rights activists have described as a scandal.
Anti-euro German AfD joins Cameron’s EU parliament group
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron faced new tensions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday after his group in the European Parliament voted to accept Germany’s anti-euro AfD party into its political family.
