EU says Zimbabwe poll peaceful, withholds judgment on fairness
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union, which has eased sanctions on Zimbabwe to encourage reforms, praised Zimbabweans on Thursday for turning out in large numbers to vote peacefully but said it was too early to assess the election’s fairness.
Insurer QBE sets aside immediate needs payouts for Spain train victims
MADRID (Reuters) – Australian insurance group QBE said on Thursday it had set aside 2.75 million euros ($3.64 million) for the immediate needs of those affected by last week’s train crash in Galicia in northwest Spain, which left 79 people dead.
Berlusconi ally says court sentence will not hurt government
ROME (Reuters) – A decision by Italy’s supreme court to uphold a jail sentence against Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud will not have repercussions for the government, an ally of the former prime minister said on Thursday.
Italy president, after Berlusconi ruling, says cohesion crucial
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s president Giorgio Napolitano, speaking after a Rome court confirmed a prison sentence against former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, urged the country to maintain its calm.
Germany’s Kohl sought to repatriate Turks 30 years ago: report
BERLIN (Reuters) – Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl discussed a secret plan with Margaret Thatcher in 1982 to reduce the number of Turks living in West Germany by 50 percent, according to recently released British documents cited by Spiegel Online in Germ…
Moroccans to protest royal pardon for Spanish paedophile
RABAT (Reuters) – Moroccans outraged by a royal pardon for a Spanish pedophile serving a 30-year sentence for raping 11 children in the North African kingdom are planning a protest in Rabat on Friday.
Courts finally catch up with Berlusconi
ROME (Reuters) – For two decades Silvio Berlusconi seemed teflon-coated, untouched by dozens of court cases and scandals, dominating political life and becoming Italy’s prime minister four times.
Kerry says Obama has timeline to end U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has a timeline for ending the U.S. program of drone strikes, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday, following talks with the new government of Pakistan.
Tunisia’s ruling party says won’t remove prime minister
TUNIS (Reuters) – The head of Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party on Thursday refused to remove the prime minister from his post, hardening its stance toward the secular opposition’s demand that the government be dissolved.
Italian firm to provide surveillance drone for U.N. in Congo
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations said on Thursday it has procured an unarmed surveillance drone from Italian defense electronics firm Selex ES, a unit of Finmeccanica, that will be deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the coming…
