By Tim Hepher PARIS (Reuters) – The Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a jet in the French Alps rehearsed the fatal maneuver on the morning of the disaster, and had twice been refused medical papers needed to fly, investigators said on Wednesday. The French BEA accident investigation agency said the co-pilot had five times set the autopilot to take the Airbus down to just 100 feet while the captain
By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Washington wants to be certain that any nuclear deal between Iran and major powers includes the possibility of restoring U.N. sanctions if Tehran breaks the agreement without risking Russian and Chinese vetoes, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday. United Nations sanctions and a future mechanism for Iran to buy atomic technology are two core sticking points in talks on a possible nuclear
By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Washington wants to be certain that any nuclear deal between Iran and major powers includes the possibility of restoring U.N. sanctions if Tehran breaks the agreement without risking Russian and Chinese vetoes, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday. United Nations sanctions and a future mechanism for Iran to buy atomic technology are two core sticking points in talks on a possible nuclear
By Matt Spetalnick and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is expected to make a renewed U.S. push next week to help Gulf allies create a region-wide defense system to guard against Iranian missiles as he seeks to allay their anxieties over any nuclear deal with Tehran, according to U.S. sources. The offer could be accompanied by enhanced security commitments, new arms sales and more joint military exercises,
By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) – Changes in Saudi Arabia’s leadership have concentrated power in an inner circle of the Al Saud dynasty, removing constraints on the monarch and making the conservative kingdom’s strategic positions less predictable. The world’s top oil exporter has always prized stability, developing policies slowly and altering them rarely, partly because of the need to balance rivalries among ruling family members and their conflicting interests. Since
By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) – Changes in Saudi Arabia’s leadership have concentrated power in an inner circle of the Al Saud dynasty, removing constraints on the monarch and making the conservative kingdom’s strategic positions less predictable. The world’s top oil exporter has always prized stability, developing policies slowly and altering them rarely, partly because of the need to balance rivalries among ruling family members and their conflicting interests. Since
By Matt Spetalnick and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is expected to make a renewed U.S. push next week to help Gulf allies create a region-wide defense system to guard against Iranian missiles as he seeks to allay their anxieties over any nuclear deal with Tehran, according to U.S. sources. The offer could be accompanied by enhanced security commitments, new arms sales and more joint military exercises,
By John Irish RIYADH (Reuters) – France and Saudi Arabia believe that any future nuclear accord between Iran and six major powers must be robust, verifiable and no threat to Tehran’s neighbors, the two countries said ahead of a summit in Riyadh on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia invited French President Francois Hollande, whose country is deemed to have the toughest stance among the six world powers negotiating with Iran, to Riyadh
By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Bad weather has cut links with a remote village in Nepal where dozens of villagers and trekkers are believed to be buried under an avalanche set off by last month’s devastating earthquake, officials said on Tuesday. The death toll from the April 25 quake in the Himalayan nation has reached 7,566, and over 14,500 people were injured, the government said. About 100 bodies were
Around forty migrants died in the Mediterranean on Sunday, according to survivors of the journey who arrived on the southern Italian island of Sicily on Tuesday, local Save the Children spokeswoman Giovanna Di Benedetto said. The deaths were reported by some of the roughly 240 migrants from Ghana, Gambia, Senegal and Ivory Coast who arrived in the port of Catania, another Save the Children spokeswoman said. A Maltese merchant ship