SYDNEY (Reuters) – A Singapore-based court has refused a challenge by Philip Morris to Australia’s landmark plain packaging legislation passed in 2011, which the tobacco giant had brought under a bi-lateral trade treaty with Hong Kong, the company said. The
ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s next president has said he still hopes to strike an accord with the European Union to maintain the free movement of workers, but warned that his government’s threat to impose limits on immigration was no bluff.
Israel and Turkey have reached a preliminary agreement to normalise relations, including the return of ambassadors to both countries, an Israeli official said on Thursday. The deal was reached during a recent meeting in Switzerland between the incoming head of Israel’s
SARAJEVO – After years of delay, Bosnia will officially apply in January to join the European Union, encouraged by the bloc’s positive assessment of its reform progress, the chairman of the Balkan country’s three-man presidency said on Thursday. Bosnia signed
ROME, Dec 17 (Reuters) – Some 200 mostly Eritrean migrants protested against asylum rules on the island of Lampedusa on Thursday as the European Union steps up pressure on frontline countries to enforce the regulations. A video posted on a
A French court has ordered Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to face trial over her role in a payout of some 400 million euros ($434 million) to businessman Bernard Tapie, her lawyer said on Thursday.
Dutch police on Wednesday fired warning shots in an effort to disperse a crowd, as a protest against plans to house asylum-seekers in a small town turned into a riot. Police in Geldermalsen, near Utrecht, said via their official Twitter
MPs on Wednesday voted in favour of the use of fracking to extract shale gas under national parks, weakening a decision against fracking in national parks made earlier this year and giving shale gas explorers access to more resources. Britain
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany said on Tuesday that Facebook, Google and Twitter have agreed to delete hate speech from their websites within 24 hours, a new step in the fight against rising online racism following the refugee crisis. The government
LONDON (Reuters) – British support for remaining in the European Union (EU) will fall significantly if Prime Minister David Cameron is not able to achieve safeguards for non-euro zone countries and curbs to welfare payments for migrants, according to a
Israeli security forces shot dead two Palestinians who tried to ram them with their cars during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Israeli army and police and Palestinian medical sources said. Soldiers shot and killed
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union (EU) is set to agree a six-month extension of its economic sanctions on Russia on Friday, once Italy’s prime minister has discussed the issue with his fellow leaders at a summit in Brussels, diplomats
LONDON (Reuters) – The share of Britons wanting to leave the European Union (EU) has risen to 51 per cent while 49 per cent would like to remain in the bloc, an opinion poll conducted by pollster Survation, on behalf
PARIS – French police arrested two men and a woman on Tuesday in connection with deadly Islamist militant attacks on Paris last month and in January, judiciary officials said. In a separate event that highlighted the knock-on impact of tensions
Britain should begin exploratory drilling or fracking of shale gas sites to allow the industry and government to fully assess its economic benefits for the country, a shale gas industry-funded task force said on Tuesday. Britain is estimated to have
Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposed European Union (EU) reforms would not fundamentally change Britain’s relationship with the bloc and there is no certainty anything promised would actually be delivered, a committee of lawmakers said on Tuesday. Last month, Cameron set
REUTERS— Egypt said on Monday it had found no evidence so far of terrorism or other illegal action linked to the crash of a Russian passenger plane in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board on Oct. 31. Russia
LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Union countries’ reluctance to integrate in the face of an influx of refugees and with the possible departure of Britain from the bloc could ultimately hurt creditworthiness, Standard & Poor’s said on Monday. “Indications are mounting
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday she wanted to “drastically decrease” the number of refugees coming to Germany, signalling a compromise to critics of her open-door policy from within her conservatives on the eve of a party congress. Merkel has
GENEVA (Reuters) – Two Syrian nationals were arrested in Geneva on Friday and traces of explosives were found in their car, the local newspaper Tribune de Geneve and Swiss television said. The newspaper gave no details on the identity of
The descendants of Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky are seeking compensation for a hotel casino in Cuba he built in the 1950s. Talks between the United States and Cuba regarding claims by Americans to property nationalized after the Cuban revolution opened
BERLIN (Reuters) – Under pressure to toughen their stance on migrants, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives called on Thursday for an effective ban on the burqa, saying the full body covering worn by some Muslim women should not be worn
Israel’s upgraded Arrow ballistic missile shield passed a full interception test on Thursday, hitting a target in space meant to simulate the trajectory of the long-range weapons held by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, the Defense Ministry said. The success was
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recently adopted dog Kaiya has sunk her teeth into her new position, biting two visitors at an event on Wednesday, including the husband of the deputy foreign minister. At a candle-lighting ceremony to
WARSAW (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday his plans to reform Britain’s ties with the European Union before a membership referendum had become more important because of a security crisis in the bloc. Following a meeting with
