Merkel urged to ditch plan for German rent controls
BERLIN (Reuters) – A sharp rise in rental prices in German cities poses no risk to the broader economy and introducing rent controls would only exacerbate the problem, economists said on Tuesday ahead of coalition talks between Angela Merkel and the So…
EU ministers urge Ukraine to stop bluffing on Tymoshenko
KIEV (Reuters) – Two European Union ministers urged Ukraine on Tuesday to stop “bluffing” and reach a deal on the release of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
EU Parliament stops short of U.S.-style approvals for medical devices
STRASBOURG (Reuters) – The European Parliament backed plans on Tuesday to tighten EU rules on medical devices that stopped short of a U.S.-style pre-marketing approval system that industry had warned would delay the introduction of new treatments.
Beleaguered Berlusconi gets a lift as divorce deal halved
ROME (Reuters) – Silvio Berlusconi finally got some good news from Italian judges on Tuesday when a court halved the amount of money he will have to pay his estranged wife Veronica Lario.
Front-runners survive cull of many Afghan presidential candidates
KABUL (Reuters) – All the front runners in Afghanistan’s presidential election next April will remain in the race, despite the disqualification of more than half the candidates by the electoral watchdog.
Italy to demand action on migrant crisis at EU summit
ROME (Reuters) – Italy will seek an overhaul of European asylum policies and emergency action to handle a crisis that has seen tens of thousands of African migrants arrive in Sicily and hundreds of deaths, Prime Minister Enrico Letta said on Tuesday.
EU revives membership talks with Turkey after three-year hiatus
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union will launch a new round of accession talks with Turkey next month following a three-year hiatus after Germany dropped opposition prompted by Ankara’s crackdown on street protests.
Luxembourg’s Juncker faces exit as rivals seek coalition
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – The conservative party that has ruled Luxembourg for most of the last 70 years has acknowledged that other parties are likely to form the next government and end Jean-Claude Juncker’s 19-year term as prime minister.
Afghan intelligence agency sacks 65 ‘heroin addicts’
KABUL (Reuters) – The intelligence service of opium-plagued Afghanistan has sacked 65 officers after discovering they were addicted to heroin, the agency’s head said on Tuesday.
Greeks 40 percent poorer than in 2008
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greeks are on average almost 40 percent poorer than they were in 2008, data indicated, laying bare the impact of a brutal recession and austerity measures the government may be forced to extend into next year.
