BRUSSELS (Reuters) - For an insight into the world of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, consider the tale of a humble asterisk. In late February, EU chief negotiator Robert Cooper was nearing a compromise that would bring Serbia and breakaway province Kosovo closer to EU membership and get around their disputes over Kosovo's right to exist. The scheme would allow Kosovo to sign regional agreements, but only with an asterisk next to its name to indicate its lack of U.N. recognition. ...
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Named for the crash site of an airforce plane shot down during the Six Day War in 1967, Givat HaMatos may yet prove the place where Palestinian hopes of a creating a capital in Jerusalem also plunge to earth. 'Airplane Hill' lies on the southern fringes of Jerusalem's city limits - rock-strewn land dotted with shabby, prefabricated bungalows and the occasional pine tree. Once a tranquil backwater, the area has become the focus of hectic activity in the last six months, with Israeli authorities releasing plans for 2,610 housing units and 1,110 hotel rooms. ...
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin named seven former cabinet ministers as aides on Tuesday, in a move expected to weaken Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's new government and shift power to the Kremlin. Putin, in a decree issued a day after the government was formed, also confirmed loyal ally Sergei Ivanov as his chief of staff while Nikolai Patrushev stays on as secretary of the presidential Security Council. ...
ATHENS (Reuters) - In a land of ancient myths, modern Greeks have created some of their own about their near-bankrupt country's future as an integral part of a Europe that will never kick them out. Solemn warnings from abroad that Athens cannot stay in the euro while rejecting the terms attached to the billions offered to pull Greece out of its financial hole are widely disbelieved in a land that considers itself the envy of foreigners. ...
AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian police killed two people on Tuesday when they opened fire on a crowd who came out to welcome United Nations observers in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, a rebel official said. "As soon as the U.N. convoy entered al-Busaira, a jubilant crowd of hundreds came out to welcome them. It was not minutes before they came under fire," Abu Laila, a Free Syrian Army official, said by phone from the town. "The observers immediately left al-Busaira. ...
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt holds its first genuinely contested presidential election this week, but Amr Adel believes nothing will really change as long as the military keeps an overt or covert grip on power. Adel, 23, is one of the mostly middle-class, secular-minded young people who galvanized last year's demonstrations that in just 18 days snuffed out President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Like many of them, he feels the struggle is unfinished. "Any president who comes with Egypt's military dictatorship still in place means nothing. ...
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea vowed on Tuesday to bolster its nuclear deterrent in response to diplomatic pressure from Washington over a recent failed rocket launch. The United States, backed by the United Nations Security Council, has warned North Korea that it will face more sanctions if it undertakes what would be its third nuclear test. ...
DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian crewman climbed down from the cabin of the ship and shuffled over to the fence that separated the public road from the quayside. "Sanctions?" he said, surprised by the question. "No. They aren't a problem for us." Flicking the ash from his cigarette, he pointed to the souk clinging to the side of the dock, a smattering of stores doing an active business selling household goods, clay pots and garden plants brought by boat from Iran to the United Arab Emirates. ...
VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said on Tuesday he expected to sign a deal with Iran soon to ease investigation into suspected work on atom bombs, potentially brightening prospects for big-power talks with Tehran to stop a drift towards conflict. Speaking on the eve of the Baghdad meeting where six powers will test Iranian willingness to put transparent limits on its nuclear program, Yukiya Amano said his wish for access to an Iranian military site where nuclear weapons-relevant tests may have occurred would be addressed as part of the accord. ...
SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni soldiers marched in a National Day parade on Tuesday, watched from behind a bullet-proof glass shield by the president, in a show of defiance one day after a bomber killed more than 90 troops in an attack on the ceremony's rehearsal. A sombre mood hung over the event, meant to celebrate the 1990 unification of north and south Yemen, but it passed off without any repeat of Monday's bloodshed despite militant threats to carry out more attacks. ...
Days after four people died amid a traffic jam of climbers scrambling to conquer Mount Everest, Nepal officials said a similar rush up the world's tallest peak will begin soon, and there's little they can do to control it.
Grieving Yemenis held somber ceremonies Tuesday to mark the country's National Day following a suicide bombing a day earlier that killed nearly 100 soldiers and deeply shook the faith of many people in the nation's future.
Despite some remaining differences, a deal has been reached with Iran that will allow the U.N. nuclear agency to restart a long-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran has secretly worked on developing nuclear arms, the U.N. nuclear chief said Tuesday.
The gunfire from a U.S.-backed Honduran anti-drug mission that appears to have targeted civilians by mistake wasn't the only terror that night more than a week ago, villagers say. They describe heavily armed commandos storming into homes and manhandling residents, and they think American agents joined in.
A bomb that apparently targeted a restaurant in the Syrian capital killed at least five people, the state-run news agency said Tuesday, as activists reported intense clashes between army defectors and soldiers in the restive north.
Taking a tough stand against dissent, President Vladimir Putin ignored public opposition and hired some Russia's most unpopular former ministers Tuesday and Russian lawmakers debated a draconian bill that raises fines for joining unsanctioned protests 200-fold.
The Italian government is to free up to €30 billion ($38.25 billion) to make overdue payments to businesses that have supplied goods or services to state institutions.
North Korea has ramped up work at its nuclear test site, according to an analysis of satellite images released Tuesday, a day after a senior U.S. envoy warned the North that an atomic test would unify the world in seeking swift, tough punishment.
Despite some remaining differences, a deal has been reached with Iran that will allow the U.N. nuclear agency to restart a long-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran has secretly worked on developing nuclear arms, the U.N. nuclear chief said Tuesday.
El director general de la Agencia Internacional de EnergÃa Atómica dijo el martes que habÃa llegado a un acuerdo con Irán para inspecciones de sospechas de fabricación de armas atómicas y agregó que el acuerdo será firmado "dentro de poco".
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