Germany’s Merkel tells Putin of her concern at Greenpeace arrests
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday of her concerns over the arrest of Greenpeace activists after a protest at an Arctic drilling platform and urged a swift resolution of the case.
New PM candidate boosts India’s opposition BJP party: poll
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has picked up support since naming Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi as its candidate for prime minister last month, but would need new allies to form the next government, an opinion p…
Migrant killed in Moscow district scarred by race riots
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A migrant worker was found stabbed to death on Wednesday in a Moscow neighborhood rocked this week by race riots, in what a community leader suggested was a revenge attack for the killing of an ethnic Russian.
Diplomat Tokayev returns to Kazakh politics as Senate head
ASTANA (Reuters) – Kazakhstan’s Senate elected career diplomat Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as its chairman on Wednesday, making him the oil-producing nation’s second most powerful politician after President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
EU accuses Turkey of using excessive force during protests
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union accused Turkish police on Wednesday of using excessive force to quell protests earlier this year, urging the government to strengthen oversight of the police and to press ahead with investigations into their cond…
China Party journal decries Western ‘democracy trap’
BEIJING (Reuters) – An influential Chinese Communist Party journal denounced on Wednesday Western calls for political reform saying such pressure was aimed at getting rid of the Communist Party and its leaders.
Dutch want answers to beating of diplomat in Moscow
AMSTERDAM/MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Netherlands was seeking answers on Wednesday after a Dutch diplomat was beaten in Moscow, the latest in a series of incidents testing relations between the two countries.
In Czech rustbelt, new government can expect little sympathy
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (Reuters) – The rustbelt town of Ostrava may help drive the Czech center-left to power this month; but the mood could turn very quickly against a government that fails to tackle the unemployment and decline facing its miners and…
Iran hints it could consider wider nuclear inspections
GENEVA (Reuters) – Iran suggested it was ready to address calls to give the U.N. atomic watchdog wider inspection powers as part of Tehran’s proposals to resolve a decade-old nuclear dispute with the West.
Czechs say negotiating release of women seized in Pakistan
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech government is negotiating the release of two Czech women kidnapped in Pakistan in March, President Milos Zeman said on Wednesday.
