Kosovo parliament convenes, opposition seeks coalition deal
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo took a step towards forming a new government on Thursday when parliament convened for the first time since indecisive June polls, with the opposition seeking a majority to take power from outgoing Prime Minister Hashim Thaci…
U.S. hits oil giant Rosneft, other firms with toughest Russia sanctions
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama imposed the biggest package of U.S. economic sanctions yet on Russia on Wednesday, hitting Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft and other energy, financial and defense firms, with what he called significan…
U.S. sanctions set to slow Rosneft’s dollar debt, not oil deals
NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Barack Obama aimed a direct blow at Russia’s economic heart on Wednesday with sanctions on Rosneft, the flagship oil giant that generates more than 4 percent of the world’s crude and over 8 percent of the country’s GDP.
Attorney says Bergdahl grateful to Obama for freedom
SALMON Idaho (Reuters) – U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is grateful to President Barack Obama for the prisoner exchange that freed him from five years as a captive of the Taliban and wishes for privacy concerning family matters, his attorney said on …
Honduras wants ‘mini-Marshall plan’ for U.S. aid on migrants
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduran officials on Wednesday called for U.S. aid to Central America to reduce violence that has fueled a surge of child migration to the United States, with the foreign minister calling for a “mini-Marshall plan” to attack th…
At least five Tunisia soldiers dead after militant attack
TUNIS (Reuters) – Gunmen attacked Tunisian military checkpoints near the Algerian border, killing as many as five soldiers in an area where the army has been conducting an operation to flush out Islamist militant fighters, the TAP state news agency and…
EU leaders fail to agree on top jobs, to decide end-August
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders failed to agree at a summit on Wednesday on sharing out a package of top jobs in the 28-nation bloc, including a new foreign policy chief, and postponed the decision until late August.
Libyan air controllers strike to protest against airport shelling
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Air controllers in western Libya have gone on strike to protest the shelling of Tripoli’s main airport, halting flights in much of the oil-producing country, a government official said on Thursday.
Confident Assad launches new term in stronger position
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Bashar al-Assad was sworn in for a new term as Syria’s president on Wednesday, after an election which his opponents dismiss as a sham but which he said proved he had achieved victory after a “dirty war” to unseat him.
More Ukrainian soldiers killed as fighting rages in east, peace move flops
KIEV/DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) – Pro-Moscow separatists battled to break through lines of government forces near the border with Russia in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, and a tentative step towards agreeing a ceasefire in the intensifying three-month c…
