Turkish minister’s visit raises hopes of thaw with Armenia
YEREVAN (Reuters) – Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made Turkey’s first high-level visit to Armenia in nearly five years on Thursday, raising the prospect of a revival in peace efforts between the historical rivals which stalled in 2010.
Insight: Far from idyll, rural France feels left in the past
SOUSCEYRAC, France (Reuters) – The first thing a visitor to this rural French village sees upon entering town are road signs pointing the way out.
Italy’s ‘pitchfork protests,’ in fourth day, spread to Rome
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s “pitchfork” protests spread to Rome on Thursday when hundreds of students clashed with police and threw firecrackers outside a university where government ministers were attending a conference.
Queen Elizabeth went nuts over nibbles, court told
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth was so incensed with royal police officers eating nuts from bowls left out in the corridors of Buckingham Palace that she drew lines on the sides in a bid to catch them out, a London court heard on Thursday….
Top Russian court orders review of Pussy Riot case
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian Supreme Court has ordered a review of the case against two women from punk band Pussy Riot, saying lower courts failed to provide full evidence of their guilt and overlooked mitigating factors in sentencing them to two ye…
Putin says Russia’s power is moral as well as military
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Thursday not to underestimate Russia’s military might but cast his country as a force for moral good and a bastion of traditional values.
Somalian president names economist as new prime minister
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s president named economist Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed as his new prime minister on Thursday, ending weeks of political paralysis as the country strives to secure fragile security gains against Islamist militants.
Thai military heads agree to meet protest leader at weekend
BANGKOK (Reuters) – The heads of Thailand’s powerful military agreed on Thursday to a weekend meeting with the leader of the movement seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, deepening uncertainty about the country’s immediate political…
South Africa admits mistake over ‘schizophrenic’ Mandela signer
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A South African sign language interpreter accused of miming nonsense as world leaders paid tribute to Nelson Mandela defended himself as a “champion” signer on Thursday, but said he suffered a schizophrenic episode during the e…
French prosecutor urges extradition of Kazakh tycoon
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (Reuters) – A French public prosecutor recommended on Thursday that Kazakh oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov, accused of embezzling up to $6 billion from his former bank, be extradited to Ukraine, which along with Russia is seeking to p…
