U.S. says Sri Lanka refuses visa for official after war crime accusations
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka has refused a visa request for a U.S. State Department official, the U.S. Embassy said on Tuesday, after Washington signaled it would propose a U.N. resolution against the South Asian state over alleged war crimes.
Cyprus says could be close to peace talks breakthrough
NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cyprus said on Wednesday it was close to reviving stalled peace talks between the island’s Greek and Turkish communities who have been locked in a festering, decades-old conflict that is harming Turkey’s hopes of joining the EU.
Factbox: Front-runners in Afghanistan’s presidential election
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s main presidential candidates have held a television debate two months before polls that Western allies hope will consolidate stability as their forces prepare to leave after nearly 13 years of war.
Turkish potato price surge adds political, economic pressure before polls
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The humble potato has become a factor in Turkey’s political and economic turmoil as prices of the staple soar, hurting the living standards of poorer Turks just before the ruling AK Party’s toughest election test in a decade.
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 executives was “not helpful” and that it gave the wrong impression that the West could do business with Tehran as usual, a U.S. official said….
London hit by travel chaos as Tube staff goes on strike
LONDON (Reuters) – Millions of Londoners were caught up in commuting chaos on Wednesday, as Underground workers began the first in a series of strikes that Prime Minister David Cameron branded as “shameful.”
London hit by travel chaos as Tube staff goes on strike
LONDON (Reuters) – Millions of Londoners were caught up in commuting chaos on Wednesday, as Underground workers began the first in a series of strikes that Prime Minister David Cameron branded as “shameful.”
Blast at Libya school wounds six children: hospital, security sources
BENGHAZI (Libya) (Reuters) – At least six children were wounded when unknown assailants tossed a hand grenade into a school in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, hospital and security sources said on Wednesday.
Insight: Reclusive cleric’s followers pose biggest threat to Turkey’s Erdogan
ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) – At the FEM University Preparation School in Uskudar, a conservative district on the Asian side of Istanbul, young men are quietly receiving specialized coaching in how to pass the exams that give access to the most important…
Exclusive: Japan makes first oil payment to Iran in a year: sources
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan this week became the first of Iran’s oil buyers to make a payment for crude imports under an interim nuclear deal, sources told Reuters on Wednesday, as the West eased a year-long stranglehold on revenues that has crippled the I…
