Germany offers fund to defuse Greek war reparation claims
ATHENS (Reuters) – German President Joachim Gauck dismissed Greek demands for compensation for Nazi-era crimes during a symbolic visit to Greece on Thursday, and instead offered to set up a new fund to remind Germans of their past.
Top Turkish court backs ex-army chief’s bid for release
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s constitutional court ruled on Thursday in favor of former military chief Ilker Basbug’s appeal against his detention on a life sentence for plotting against the government, saying his right to freedom had been violated.
Qatar ‘will not bow to pressure to alter foreign policy’
DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar will not bow to demands from three Gulf states to alter its foreign policy, sources close to its government said, suggesting Doha is unlikely to abandon support for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Syrian Islamists.
Tunisia lifts state of emergency, three years after revolt
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia has lifted a state of emergency three years after it was imposed, in a largely symbolic move to show security is improving in the North African state.
Macedonia calls early parliamentary election for April 27
SKOPJE (Reuters) – Macedonia’s parliamentary speaker on Thursday scheduled an early national election for April 27, a day after lawmakers in the multi-ethnic coalition dissolved parliament after failing to agree on a candidate for president.
Bahrain and Iran trade accusations at U.N. rights forum
GENEVA (Reuters) – Bahrain accused Shi’ite Iran on Thursday of fomenting deadly violence in the kingdom, and a Tehran official accused the Sunni-ruled island state of torturing and imprisoning its critics.
Kunming attack shouldn’t be treated as ethnic issue: China official
BEIJING (Reuters) – A deadly knife attack at a Chinese train station last week should not be linked to ethnicity, a senior government official said, days after authorities blamed the incident on separatists from the country’s troubled far western regio…
France’s Sarkozy to sue over secret audio recordings: lawyers
PARIS (Reuters) – Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni are to file a legal complaint over secret audio recordings made of them by an adviser during the 2012 election campaign, lawyers for the couple said on Thursday.
U.S. seeks ‘talk and trade’ to rebuild India ties
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The United States sought on Thursday to rebuild rocky ties with India, while stressing it would tackle differences “head on” in pursuit of its drive to quintuple bilateral trade in a decade.
Soldier killed by explosive device in southeast Turkey
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – A Turkish soldier was killed by an explosive device in southeastern Turkey, the first such death since Kurdish militants declared a ceasefire a year ago, security sources said on Thursday.
