Chinese position forced suspension of tech trade talks: U.S.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. trade official on Wednesday said talks aimed at cutting tariffs on a new generation of technology products have been suspended because of China’s demand to exclude more than 100 products from the tariff cuts.
France urges Myanmar leader to investigate anti-Muslim violence
PARIS (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande pressed Myanmar’s president on Wednesday to investigate violence against the country’s Muslim minority in depth, and said a pledge to release political prisoners must be followed by action.
Libyan minority groups say will boycott constitution vote
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Three Libyan ethnic minorities announced on Wednesday they would boycott an election of a committee to draft a new constitution, the first blow to a democratic process supposed to decide what political system the country will adopt….
Pirelli head found guilty of receiving stolen data
MILAN (Reuters) – The chairman of tyre maker Pirelli, Marco Tronchetti Provera, was handed a 20-month suspended jail sentence on Wednesday for receiving stolen information when he was head of Telecom Italia.
Egypt’s Brotherhood says EU has no offer for crisis
CAIRO (Reuters) – A senior figure in ousted President Mohamed Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood met the European Union’s foreign affairs chief in Cairo on Wednesday and said Brussels had offered no proposal that could resolve Egypt’s political crisis.
EU urges Ethiopia to release journalists, revise terror law
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A European Union parliamentary delegation urged Ethiopia on Wednesday to release journalists and opposition politicians jailed under an anti-terror law, and revise the legislation that critics say is used to stifle dissent.
Arab League backs Kerry’s Palestinian peace bid
AMMAN (Reuters) – The Arab League endorsed a U.S. drive to relaunch Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations on Wednesday, saying in a statement carried on the Jordanian news agency that it hoped this could lead to a two-state solution.
Italian court sentences politician who urged rape of black minister
ROME (Reuters) – A local Italian politician who called for Italy’s first black minister, the target of repeated racial slurs, to be raped was given a 13-month suspended sentence and banned from public office for three years on Wednesday.
UK spy agency’s use of U.S. data was legal: UK lawmakers
LONDON (Reuters) – British agents did not circumvent the law by using data gathered by a clandestine U.S. spy program, the head of an influential British parliamentary committee said on Wednesday, but added the framework governing such access did need …
Italy minister faces more pressure over Kazakh case
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta defended his interior minister from growing calls for him to resign over the expulsion of a dissident Kazakh oligarch’s wife and daughter, as pressure on his fragile coalition mounted on Wednesday.
