MOSCOW - Russia plans to deploy fighter jets in Belarus this year and eventually establish an air base in the former Soviet republic, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.
       
 The moves would increase Russia’s military presence in Belarus, viewed by Moscow as a buffer between Russia and NATO, and could unnerve neighbouring members of […]

LONDON - Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87. Thatcher is credited with changing the face of British politics during her three terms as Prime Minister. She was married to Denis Thatcher and had two children a son and daughter — twins.
  Thatcher was the first woman to hold […]

BERLIN - A horse meat scandal that started in Britain and Ireland is now unnerving consumers around Europe. DNA tests have revealed that beef tainted with horse meat has made it into supermarkets in 13 European Union nations. Stores, schools, and hospitals are scrambling to remove some meat. And there are calls for tighter regulation of […]

LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron conceded on Sunday that Scotland had what it takes to be an independent nation, but said it currently enjoyed “the best of both worlds,” imploring it not to break the United Kingdom apart.
 Stepping up his government’s campaign to hold Britain together ahead of an independence referendum expected next […]

LONDON - Scientists say 500-year-old remains found under a parking lot in the city of Leicester are those of England’s King Richard III.
 University of Leicester researchers said at a televised news conference on Monday that it is “beyond reasonable doubt” that a battle-scarred skeleton unearthed last October is the king, who died at the Battle […]

MOSCOW - Russia has announced it is pulling out of an agreement with the United States to work together on controlling illegal drugs, in the latest of a series of moves that indicate the two governments are pulling away from one another.
 The order signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appeared Wednesday on the Russian government […]

PARIS - France attacked Islamists targets in Mali for the third straight day on Sunday, bombing an key northern town held by the extremists.
 French fighter jets bombed the northern Malian town of Gao, even as West African troops were due to arrive to help Bamako beat back an Islamist insurgency.
 In a television interview, French Defense […]

LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected a call by Argentina’s president for Britain to give control of the Falkland Islands to Argentina. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner wrote an open letter to the British leader accusing his country of colonialism.
 More than 30 years have passed since Britain and Argentina fought a 10-week war […]

LONDON - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has attended a meeting of the British Cabinet to mark her diamond jubilee, believed to be the first such meeting attended by a British monarch in at least 100 years.
 
 Marking the 60th year of her reign, the queen attended the meeting at British Prime Minister David Cameron’s official residence at […]

MOSCOW - Russia’s Foreign Ministry has asked the Obama administration to end all USAID programs in Russia and to recall the 13 American diplomats working here for USAID by Oct. 1.
 
In Washington, the State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland issued a statement Tuesday saying that USAID’s presence in Russia will end, but that U.S. diplomats “look forward […]

WARSAW - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney praised Poland for embracing free market principles after years under communist rule, calling it a nation “with an extraordinary future.”
In a speech delivered Tuesday in Warsaw at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, Romney celebrated the historical bond between the United States and Poland, saying they belong […]

LONDON - Ending weeks of political limbo, Antonis Samaras, the leader of Greece’s New Democracy party was sworn in Wednesday as prime minister after agreeing to form a coalition government with the Socialists and a smaller left-wing party, the Democratic Left.
After winning Sunday’s election, the president gave the New Democracy party three days to form […]

ATHENS - European leaders say they are hopeful Greece will be able to “quickly” form a government after pro-bailout parties won the most seats in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
The conservative New Democracy party won 30 percent of the vote to take 129 of the 300 seats in parliament, including the 50-seat bonus given to the party […]

LONDON - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth began her four-day diamond jubilee celebration Saturday watching horse races at the Epsom Downs course in southern England.
Many of the estimated 150,000 who gathered for the Epsom Derby were handed British flags to mark the milestone.
 
The celebration of the queen’s 60 years on the throne officially began earlier Saturday with […]

PARIS - French President Francois Hollande said he plans to pull all of his country’s 2,000 combat troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year, but that France will continue to support the war-torn country.
During an unannounced visit to Afghanistan Friday, Hollande said some 1,300 other troops will remain in the country in […]

WASHINGTON - Afghanistan might have been the most prominent topic discussed at this week’s summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but the 28 NATO leaders also addressed an equally delicate issue - deployment of a ballistic missile defense shield in Europe that is strongly opposed by Russia.
Newly inaugurated Russian President Vladimir Putin had been […]

LONDON - Britain’s Prince Harry urged support for wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars during an awards dinner Monday night in Washington, D.C.
 
The 27-year-old prince received a humanitarian award from the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based foreign policy research group, for his work with a foundation that trains injured British veterans and helps them […]

PARIS - Francois Hollande, the former leader of France’s Socialist Party, has been elected president of France, defeating incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
Despite being one of France’s best known politicians, the 57-year-old Hollande has never held a position in the national government.
 
Dominique Moisi, senior adviser to the French Institute of International Affairs in Paris, notes that Mr. […]

PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy says more suspected Muslim extremists will be rounded up, following a series of arrests Friday in operations around the country. The arrests are part of a larger crackdown against radical Islam following a string of killings by an al-Qaida-inspired gunman.
Interviewed on France’s Europe 1 radio Friday, President Nicolas Sarkozy […]

ATHENS - Greece says the majority of the country’s private lenders, including financial institutions, have agreed to a bond swap deal to help the country eliminate a $142-billion debt and avoid a default on its financial obligations.
 
Greece intends to use legislation to force the remaining holdouts to sign on to the agreement.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy […]

MOSCOW - Prominent Russian activist Alexei Navalny is promising a campaign of civil disobedience against what he says was a stolen presidential election by Vladimir Putin.
 
Navalny says tens of thousands of people will turn out for street protests in Russian cities and will keep up the protests until their demands are met.
 
Police arrested Navalny and […]

MOSCOW - Russian opposition leaders plan to rally near the Kremlin Monday to protest Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency.
With nearly all the votes counted, Russian officials say Putin won Sunday’s presidential election by a landslide with 64 percent of the vote. His closest rival, Community Party chief Gennady Zyuganov, was far behind with 17 […]

ATHENS - The Fitch financial services company is again downgrading the credit rating of Greece, saying that the debt-ridden country is “highly likely” to default on its financial obligations even after securing a new bailout from its European neighbors.
Fitch said Wednesday it has cut Greece two notches (from CCC to C), pushing the credit standing […]

PARIS - After talks that lasted through the night, eurozone finance ministers finally struck a $172-billion bailout agreement for Greece early Tuesday. The deal averts a debt default by Athens, but also demands Greeks to shoulder more austerity measures.
 
After 13 hours of negotiations, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker announced success at a news conference early […]