BERLIN (Reuters) – The leader of Germany’s Social Democrats on Friday urged members of his center-left party to endorse coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives or risk facing new elections that could further damage the party. The SPD is scrambling to rally support among rank-and-file party members for formal negotiations with the conservatives about

KUTUPALONG, Bangldesh (Reuters) – Rohingya leaders in a Bangladesh refugee camp have drawn up a list of demands they want Myanmar to meet before authorities begin sending back hundreds of thousands in a repatriation process expected to begin next week and last for two years. The petition is the latest indication of the challenges ahead

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – A speeding car plowed through evening strollers on a crowded sidewalk of Rio’s famed Copacabana beach on Thursday in an apparent accident, killing an 8-month old baby and injuring 15 people, police said. Injured pedestrians lay sprawled out on the sidewalk, recalling recent terrorist attacks by vehicles mowing down pedestrians,

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A new charm offensive should buy Poland time in its confrontation with the EU over backsliding on democracy, but Warsaw will have to make some real policy changes to match the warmer words or risk losing some funds from the bloc. Poland, under the Catholic, nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS) in

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday he would make a one-day visit to Britain next week where he hoped to visit the new U.S. embassy. Speaking to reporters while flying back to Washington from a visit to the North American West Coast, Tillerson did not make clear if he

PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday the United States is receiving evidence that international sanctions are “really starting to hurt” North Korea, and praised China for putting pressure on Pyongyang. South Korean President Moon Jae-in had attributed North Korea’s recent willingness to talk to South Korea to

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A delegation approved by the Taliban’s supreme leader visited the Pakistani capital this week for exploratory talks on restarting peace negotiations to end Afghanistan’s 16-year war, two senior officials in the movement said. It was unclear if any progress was made in the unofficial meetings with a representative of a prominent Afghan

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s left-wing presidential contender retained his lead in this year’s election race as the ruling party hopeful failed to gain traction, a poll showed on Wednesday. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party maintained a leading position in the survey published in newspaper El Economista, winning support

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is not at war with Poland and is not set on sanctioning the country “come what may”, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday. The EU executive deployed Article 7 of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty for the first time in December, giving Warsaw three months to reverse judicial

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – El Salvador is discussing a deal with Qatar under which Salvadoran migrants facing the loss of their right to stay in the United States could live and work temporarily in the Middle Eastern country, the government of the Central American nation said on Tuesday. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration

PRISTINA/BELGRADE (Reuters) – Kosovo Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic, who was standing trial over the killings of ethnic Albanians during the 1998-99 war, was shot dead on Tuesday in what Serbia called an act of terrorism. The killing increased tension between Kosovo and Serbia, and a round of European Union-sponsored dialogue on normalizing relations that was

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Sanctions pressure must be maintained on Pyongyang to force it to abandon its nuclear weapons program, participants at a 20-nation meeting on North Korea said on Tuesday. “We must increase the costs of the regime’s behavior to the point that North Korea must come to the table for credible negotiations,” U.S. Secretary

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Loose or corroded joints may have caused the sudden collapse of a mezzanine floor at the Indonesian Stock Exchange building this week that sent visiting students plunging to the ground, a preliminary report by the public works ministry has found. More than 70 people were injured in Monday’s incident, which was captured

LONDON (Reuters) – Iran said on Tuesday a new U.S.-backed, 30,000-strong force inside Syria would “fan the flames of war”, echoing the vehement response of Syria, Turkey and Russia to the plan. On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition said it was working with its Syrian militia allies, the mainly Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to set

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines’ most active volcano spewed lava that cascaded downslope and emitted ash that fell on nearby towns, state volcanologists said on Tuesday, prompting the provincial government to shut more schools. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded nine episodes of tremor, four of which accompanied lava fountains, and 75