World Politics News

JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ever since their first awkward encounter - a hastily arranged meeting in a custodian's office at a Washington airport in 2007 - Iran has been one of the few issues on which Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu have been able to find some common ground. Nearly five years ago, neither man was …

TUNIS (Reuters) - Western and Arab powers meeting in Tunis Friday will issue a "challenge" to President Bashar al-Assad to let in aid for victims of Syria's intensifying conflict - but a Libya-style military intervention is not on the agenda. They come together as international outrage over Assad's repression of unrest …

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian tanks pushed into a rebel stronghold in the battered city of Homs Thursday and U.N. investigators accused President Bashar al-Assad's government of crimes against humanity. Rockets, shells and mortar rounds rained on the Baba Amro district, where armed insurgents are holed up with terrified …

A smiling ex-Philippine president Gloria Arroyo pleaded not guilty Thursday to rigging an election, denouncing the charge that could see her jailed for life as part of a relentless vilification campaign.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin evoked Russia's historic 1812 victory over Napoleon Bonaparte on Thursday in a patriotic speech to tens of thousands of people intended to show he has real support and counter opposition protests ahead of presidential elections. Addressing his supporters in a Moscow sports stadium, the …

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's week-long parliamentary election campaign began on Thursday, the official IRNA news agency said, a vote likely to highlight the popularity of the clerical establishment as it stands firm against Western pressure to curb its nuclear work. It is shaping up as a contest among clerical and political …

A British MEP has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud the European Parliament.

A wave of attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda killed at least 39 people on Thursday, in what Iraq's parliament speaker said was an attempt to derail an Arab League summit planned for the end of March.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. envoy for the North Korean nuclear dispute said talks with Pyongyang's lead negotiator on Thursday were "serious and substantive" and would continue the next day but analysts have said no major breakthrough is expected. The talks in Beijing between U.S. Special Representative for North Korea …

Somalia's hard line Islamist rebels are reported to have taken delivery of up to 30 surface-to-air missiles smuggled to them from Libya since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

ATHENS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe gave Greece until Wednesday to convince sceptical international creditors that it would stick to the punishing terms of a multi-billion-euro rescue package, endorsed by parliament as rioters torched downtown Athens. Lawmakers backed drastic cuts in wages, pensions and jobs on Sunday as …

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas at protesters hurling stones and petrol bombs outside parliament in Athens on Sunday, as lawmakers inside debated deeply unpopular austerity measures to secure an EU/IMF bailout. Riot police firing stun grenades drove back protesters on the main Syndagma square in front of the …

PARIS (Reuters) - Germany's booming economy has dominated the early exchanges in France's presidential election campaign but President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Socialist rival draw very different lessons from across the Rhine. While Sarkozy believes France must copy Germany's painful budget cuts, wage restraint and labour …

CARACAS (Reuters) - State governor Henrique Capriles leads polls to win an opposition primary in Venezuela on Sunday and face President Hugo Chavez in the October presidential election. Following are some of the main policy views of a man who defines himself as a centre-left follower of the business-friendly but socially-conscious …

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's new prime minister, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, won parliamentary approval on Thursday for a government that offers little political change but might ease some austerity measures as an election nears. Four days after Emil Boc resigned as premier following weeks of sometimes violent street protests …

SEOUL (Reuters) - The speaker of South Korea's parliament resigned on Thursday over bribery allegations involving lawmakers from the ruling party in the latest graft scandal to hit the struggling conservatives before a general election in April. Park Hee-tae's resignation deals another blow to President Lee Myung-bak and …

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition supporters vote on Sunday in a primary vote seen backing Henrique Capriles, governor of the country's second-most populated state, to face socialist President Hugo Chavez in the October presidential election. Echoing Venezuelans' top concerns, the five candidates have all stressed …

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition supporters vote on Sunday in a primary likely to anoint youthful governor Henrique Capriles as the candidate to face socialist President Hugo Chavez in an October election that is already shaping up as a fierce fight. Outwitted by Chavez since 1998, opposition leaders hope the nationwide …

MALE (Reuters) - The former president of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives awaited arrest in his house Thursday, vowing to stay and fight against the government he says ousted him in a coup with the connivance of the police and military. Mohamed Nasheed spoke to reporters at his home on a narrow lane in Male, …

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded opposition-held neighbourhoods of the city of Homs with rocket and mortar fire on Thursday, activists said, as divided world powers struggled to find a way to end the violence. The United Nations chief condemned the ferocity of the government assault on the heart of a revolt …

(Reuters) - The White House will announce a move to accommodate religious organizations on its rule for health insurance coverage of contraceptives, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. The Obama administration is seeking to quell a firestorm from Catholic Church leaders, Republicans and others who have said …

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The European Union wants India to draw Iran into talks over its nuclear programme but said strong sanctions are also needed, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said on Friday, as Asia's third-largest economy aims to increase trade with Tehran. India has struck a defiant tone over new financial …

(Reuters) - Following is a timeline of events in Syria since protests began: March 16, 2011 - Security forces break up gathering of 150 protesters in Damascus holding pictures of imprisoned relatives. April 19 - Government passes bill lifting 48 years of emergency rule. April 22 - Security forces and gunmen loyal to President …

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin has tamed the gangster capitalism which accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union to make Russian corruption "normal and civilised," his presidential election campaign chief said in an interview published on Friday. Russia is ranked as the most corrupt major power and in leaked documents …

MALE (Reuters) - The ousted president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, demanded on Friday fresh elections and said he would organise street protests if polls were not called. "Fresh elections are our bottom line and we are not relying on the international community for that, we are relying on the people of the Maldives," …