Business trip to Iran “not helpful”, Kerry tells France
DUBAI (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has told his French counterpart a trip to Iran by French business executives was “not helpful” and gave the wrong impression that Tehran was open for business as usual, a U.S. official said.
Former Greek bank chief arrested in bad loan inquiry
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek authorities arrested the former chairman of defunct state lender Hellenic Postbank (TT) on Wednesday on charges of money laundering and fraud, police and court officials said.
Israeli pilots punished for storing sensitive data on smartphones
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Two Israeli combat pilots were jailed for five days and 12 others were disciplined for storing operational maps on their smartphones, Israeli Army Radio reported on Wednesday.
North and South Korea to hold reunions in shadow of war drills
SEOUL (Reuters) – North and South Korea agreed on Wednesday to allow some families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War to hold brief reunions, despite a campaign by Pyongyang that Seoul cancel planned war games with the United States.
Indian parliament’s last session set to be pre-election scrap
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s parliament reconvened on Wednesday for its last session before a general election, a final chance for the ruling Congress party to convince voters it is taking action on corruption and to showcase the resolve of leader Rah…
Bloomberg to plug mayors’ climate progress to motivate world leaders
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg aims to use his new role as U.N. envoy on cities and climate change to help “frustrated” U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon motivate world leaders to cut greenhouse gas emissions by showing them pr…
U.S. discusses Afghan troop levels; Kabul holds talks with Taliban
WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama met his senior military commanders to discuss the American presence in Afghanistan as officials in Kabul confirmed President Hamid Karzai’s government has been holding secret talks with Taliban i…
U.S. sharply curtails drone strikes in Pakistan: report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has cut back sharply on drone strikes in Pakistan after the Islamabad government asked for restraint while it seeks peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Colombia probes reported military spying on peace negotiators
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the apparent spying by rogue elements in the military on his negotiating team at peace talks with Marxist FARC rebels and suggested that “dark forces” we…
Russia says Syria to ship chemical arms as civilians flee bombs
MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Russia said its ally Syria would soon ship more chemical weapons abroad for destruction after being accused of dragging its feet, while activists said civilians in Aleppo were fleeing deadly barrel bomb raids by President Bash…
