For China, Turkey missile deal a victory even if it doesn’t happen
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Turkey’s $4 billion order for a Chinese missile defense system is a breakthrough for China in its bid to become a supplier of advanced weapons, even though opposition from Washington and NATO threatens to derail the deal.
France’s Hollande tells ministers to end Roma row
PARIS (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande told two of his top ministers on Wednesday they should end a public row over France’s policy towards its Roma population if they wanted to stay in his government.
UK’s Cameron puts economy center-stage in re-election bid
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron cast a national election in 2015 as a choice between his “pro-business” ruling Conservative party and what he called the anti-business opposition Labour party.
Russia charges Greenpeace activists with piracy
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian authorities charged Greenpeace activists from several nations with piracy on Wednesday over a protest against Arctic oil drilling at a platform owned by the state-controlled energy company Gazprom, the environmental group sai…
Afghans baulk at U.S. push for operations after 2014: spokesman
KABUL (Reuters) – A U.S. bid to run unilateral counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan after 2014 is threatening to derail a security pact between the two countries, an Afghan spokesman said, underlining Afghanistan’s tenuous ties with its main bac…
Ukraine police fire tear gas to disperse protest in Kiev
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian police fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse protesters trying to enter the city council building in the capital Kiev, police and opposition activists said.
Lithuania warns Russia over pressuring its neighbors
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Lithuania could block Russia’s road and rail access to its enclave of Kaliningrad if Moscow keeps pressuring its neighbors over their ties to the European Union, the Baltic state’s foreign minister said.
U.S. cries foul as Vietnam jails govt critic for ‘tax dodging’
HANOI (Reuters) – A Vietnam court jailed a prominent human rights activist for two and a half years on Wednesday after finding him guilty on tax evasion charges supporters say were aimed at muzzling critics of the Communist Party.
Militants shoot down military helicopter in northern Iraq: police
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) – Unidentified militants shot down a military helicopter in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing all four crew members, police sources said.
China’s Xi to give first speech by foreign leader to Indonesia parliament
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping will on Thursday become the first foreign leader to address Indonesia’s parliament, signaling a push by the Asian economic powerhouses to expand relations that were for decades frozen in hostility.
