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TBILISI (Reuters) -The speaker of Georgia’s parliament said on Tuesday that the ruling Georgian Dream party is asking the constitutional court to ban the country’s three largest opposition parties, Interpress news agency reported.
(Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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(Reuters) -The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Tuesday called for reforms of the 30-year-old institution, highlighting its consensus rule that requires unanimous agreement among members to secure global trade deals.
“We need to reform the system, we cannot be complacent,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh.
“We need to reform some of the ways we do business like our consensus decision-making system which is practised as unanimity – everyone has to agree – so it really slows down decision making,” she said.
She also urged the WTO’s 166 members to engage with the United States on its criticisms of the watchdog, many of which she acknowledged as valid.
Okonjo-Iweala repeated that the global trading system was undergoing the biggest disruption in eight decades, describing it as “battered but not broken”.
She hailed the fact that more of its members had not resorted to retaliatory measures in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on trading partners.
“The fact that almost three-quarters of world goods trade is still going on on WTO terms is amazing,” she said.
(Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Friederike Heine, Kirsti Knolle)
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TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump are in the final stages of preparing a joint document on securing rare earths and other critical minerals and strengthening supply chains, the Asahi Newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The agreement, which the two leaders plan to sign during their meeting later on Tuesday, aims to address economic security concerns following China’s move in October to tighten export controls on rare earths, which are crucial for a wide range of products from smartphones to fighter jets, the paper said citing Japanese government officials.
In response to China’s dominance in global production, the White House had initially planned to impose a 100% additional tariff on Chinese exports. But Washington and Beijing on Sunday reached a framework for a trade deal that could pause planned U.S. tariffs and Chinese export controls on critical minerals.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are due to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea to sign off on the terms.
(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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In an event hosted by Norsk Tipping, Norway’s national lottery company, European Lotteries and the World Lottery Association (WLA) brought together operators, suppliers, and regulators in Oslo from October 21–23 for the 2025 Security & Operational Risk Seminar. Centered on the theme “Trust in the Supply Chain: Resilience and Oversight,” the seminar examined ways lotteries can enhance operational integrity in the face of growing cyber threats and increasingly complex supplier networks.
Sofie Nystrøm, CEO of Fortified Technologies and former head of the Norwegian National Security Authority, opened the seminar by outlining the current security landscape. She highlighted that digital supply chains are becoming increasingly complex, cyber threats are growing in both sophistication and frequency, and ransomware continues to be the most common form of attack.
According to Nystrøm, trust is under pressure. She explained that lotteries need to take proactive measures, streamline their processes, and collaborate with partners who prioritize strong security, since a lottery’s protection is only as resilient as that of its suppliers.
The seminar underscored a key point that security is more than just a department. It is a collaborative effort and a cornerstone of trust. From implementing frameworks and conducting audits to managing real-world crises, lotteries function as trusted partners in society, and often, the behind-the-scenes work of security teams is vital to maintaining that trust.
The event had many leading industry professionals who delved deeper into the necessity of having better security as a cornerstone of public trust. For example, Gennaro Borrelli of Brightstar Lottery delved into the “AI versus AI” frontier, showing how emerging technologies can both enhance defenses and be exploited by attackers.
Meanwhile, Pablo Berloso of SELAE reminded attendees that some of the most significant risks remain traditional and tangible. Even the most advanced cybersecurity measures are limited if basic infrastructure fails. He pointed to the nationwide power outage in Spain in spring 2024 and explained how SELAE navigated the crisis to preserve operational resilience.
Rebecca McCarthy of Allwyn UK highlighted how the transition from Camelot to Allwyn reinforced resilience, embedding security throughout everyday processes. This was a concept that she illustrated with the metaphor of a tree that bends under pressure but develops stronger roots over time.
Supplier and auditor insights emphasized the collaborative aspect of security. For example, Andrew Jackson of Scientific Games underscored the importance of transparency and teamwork, drawing lessons from the notorious McDonald’s promotional games case of the 1990s.
Meanwhile, Stavroula Karagianni of OpenBet outlined strategies for safeguarding data integrity across complex global operations. Hans Peter Østrem, WLA SCS Auditor, described auditors as “critical friends,” highlighting that audits go beyond compliance. According to Østrem, these are opportunities to enhance processes, foster innovation, and bolster resilience.
The closing panel agreed that while absolute security is impossible, maintaining trust depends on continuous vigilance and open communication.
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VALLETTA (Reuters) -Malta announced tax cuts for parents of two or more children on Monday, in a government bid to counter its demographic decline.
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana told parliament that the rock-bottom fertility rate of the Mediterranean island’s native population was the “biggest challenge” facing the country.
“We need to encourage more families to have at least two children,” Caruana said in a speech on Malta’s 2026 budget.
A report by EU statistical agency Eurostat this year showed Malta had the bloc’s lowest fertility rate in 2023, at 1.06.
Maltese Catholic Archbishop Charles Scicluna in September said that Malta faced “ethnic extinction”.
Although densely populated, with around 1,704 people per square kilometre, almost a third of Malta’s population is made up of foreign workers and their families.
Caruana said on Monday that parents of two or more children will, from 2026, each not pay income tax on the first 18,500 euros ($21,575) of their income.
That will rise to 30,000 euros each by 2028. The tax cuts will be retained until the children are 23 years old.
The scheme is similar to another announced in Poland in September which will remove tax on families with at least two children having an income of up to 32,973 euros.
Caruana said in February that Malta’s native population is currently 406,000, of whom 24% are aged over 65.
In his budget speech, Caruana said Malta is forecast to have GDP growth of 4.1% in real terms in 2026, broadly similar to 2025. National debt was projected to be stable at 47.1% of GDP.
The deficit was projected to fall to 3.3% of GDP this year and 2.8% next year, he added. ($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna; Edited by Alexander Smith)
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(Reuters) -Global companies have a long list of concerns around the U.S.-China trade war. They will closely monitor President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected meeting in South Korea on Thursday, hoping that the world’s two biggest economies begin to resolve their differences.
Below are the biggest issues for global companies.
The U.S. semiconductor industry will closely watch the talks for indications of a deal over whether U.S. firms can sell powerful artificial intelligence chips to China. While Nvidia is the market leader, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel are trying to gain market share, and a raft of other chip companies from Broadcom to Marvell Technology that help develop AI chips will feel the impact. Also critical will be discussions over critical minerals and materials, which affect chip manufacturers such as Intel and GlobalFoundries. Those materials have become a flashpoint in the tussle between the U.S. and China over Chinese access to the tools needed to build out its own semiconductor manufacturing industry. Those tools come from U.S. firms such as Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA.
China is an important manufacturer of both finished pharmaceutical products and key ingredients of drugs used in the U.S.
In 2024, China was the eighth-largest exporter of pharmaceutical products to the U.S., accounting for more than 3.5% of those products imported for the year, according to U.S. trade data.
More importantly, China is the largest manufacturer globally of the key building blocks used to make pharmaceutical ingredients. According to a report published earlier this month by U.S. Pharmacopeia, China is the sole supplier of over 40% of the key starting materials for U.S.-approved pharmaceutical ingredients.
The top Chinese drug companies include Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, WuXi AppTec, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group and Sinopharm Group.
U.S. energy companies, particularly LNG exporters including Venture Global LNG and Cheniere Energy, will be paying close attention to see if the Trump-Xi meeting can restart frozen energy flows after China levied a 15% tariff on American LNG in February.
China had been a major buyer before that, purchasing nearly 6% of U.S. exports of the fuel in 2024. Since the tariffs were imposed, Chinese companies have not signed any new long-term supply deals with U.S. LNG producers, and the country has been diverting U.S. cargoes to the European market in a move that has tempered global prices.
The U.S., meanwhile, has not exported any oil to China since February, when a 10% tariff was also imposed on crude. Exports to China totaled only about 4% of American shipments abroad – about 150,000 barrels per day – in 2024, down 42% from the previous year.
Top exporters of U.S. crude to China have previously included Occidental Petroleum; Unipec, the trading arm of China’s Sinopec; and Atlantic Trading & Marketing, an arm of French oil major TotalEnergies, according to shipping flows data from Kpler.
A wide range of global companies will be watching to see if the Trump administration intends to follow through on a plan to curb an array of software-powered exports to China. If implemented, it would make good on Trump’s threat earlier this month to bar “critical software” exports to China by restricting global shipments of items that contain U.S. software or were produced using U.S. software. It could disrupt global trade, given that many items are made with U.S. software, like jet engines from General Electric, or cars from companies like Toyota that use software in safety features. Chips worldwide are also produced with U.S. chip-design software from Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys.
Carmakers have much riding on the geopolitical dynamics between Trump and China, including a slate of still-unresolved tariffs between the two countries. Most pressing, though, is the threat of a shortage of chips from Chinese-owned firm Nexperia. China has banned exports of Nexperia’s finished products amid a dispute with the Dutch government. The inexpensive chips are used widely in car electronics, and automotive lobbying groups that represent Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford have warned of likely factory disruptions if the dispute is not quickly settled. China’s stepped-up export controls on rare-earth metals as well as battery materials and equipment also have raised fears among automakers and suppliers of production snags.
Agribusinesses including Archer-Daniels-Midland, Bunge Global and privately held Cargill will be watching for any lifting of tariffs that have halted Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans and other farm goods and driven crop prices to multiyear lows. Soybeans are the largest U.S. farm export by value, with $12.6 billion in shipments to top buyer China in 2024, according to U.S. government data. Farm equipment makers such as Deere, AGCO and CNH Industrial will also be eying any easing of duties that have hammered farmer income and chilled sales of tractors and combine harvesters.
Boeing faces rising pressure as Xi-Trump talks spotlight aerospace trade. Beijing’s push for domestic jets and retaliatory tariffs risk eroding Chinese demand for Boeing aircraft. With China historically a top market for Boeing, escalating trade tensions could threaten the company’s long-term growth. If Trump-Xi talks go well, Boeing could increase its access to China’s aviation market, but if they falter, the company risks deeper isolation. Meanwhile, Trump’s threat to restrict Boeing aircraft parts exports to China could disrupt the nascent jet production of state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, which relies on U.S.-made engines and avionics.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago, Stephen Nellis in San Francisco, Mike Erman in New York, Mike Colias in Detroit, Chris Sanders in Washington, Nathan Crooks in Houston and Joe Brock in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban will discuss U.S. sanctions on Russian oil companies among other issues when he meets U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington next week, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.
Trump, a close ally of the Hungarian leader, last week imposed sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting Lukoil and Rosneft, as he tries to pressure Moscow into agreeing a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Trump’s move has left questions for Hungary and Slovakia, the biggest buyers of Russian oil in the European Union after securing exemptions from EU restrictions.
Orban had already flagged his upcoming visit to Washington in mid-October, when he said the negotiating agenda was almost complete.
“As for our energy supply … in the second half of next week there will be an opportunity in Washington for the prime minister to discuss this issue in person with the US President,” Szijjarto told a briefing.
As the fresh U.S. sanctions do not take effect until late November, they are not currently creating any problems or causing a reduction in Hungary’s oil imports from Russia, Szijjarto said.
Orban on Friday said Hungary was working on finding a way to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Russian oil companies. While he did not provide details, he gave no indication that he planned to defy the restrictions.
Orban said he had spoken to Hungary’s oil and gas company MOL about the sanctions.
The Hungarian leader, who faces an election in 2026, has cultivated a strong personal rapport with Trump over the years. His hardline anti-immigration stance has earned him support among Trump supporters in the United States.
He said earlier this month that he would be discussing economic issues with Trump at the upcoming meeting.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Conor Humphries)
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TOKYO—The British aren’t the only ones who can sprinkle a little royal stardust when President Trump comes to town.
As Trump pays a visit to Tokyo this week, his Japanese hosts are counting on some face time with the emperor to set a positive tone—even if the reception fell short on pomp.
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JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel won’t accept the presence of Turkish armed forces in Gaza under a U.S. plan to end war in the Palestinian territory for good, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan includes an international force in Gaza to help secure a fragile ceasefire which began this month, halting two years of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
But it remains unclear whether Arab and other states will be ready to commit troops to the international force. “Countries that want or are ready to send armed forces should be at least fair to Israel,” Saar said at a news conference in Budapest.
Once warm Turkish-Israeli relations soured drastically during the Gaza war, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan lambasting Israel’s devastating air and ground campaign in the small Palestinian enclave.
“Turkey, led by Erdogan, led a hostile approach against Israel,” Saar said, speaking alongside his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto. “So it is not reasonable for us to let their armed forces enter the Gaza Strip and we will not agree to that and we said it to our American friends,” Saar said.
While the Trump administration has ruled out sending U.S. soldiers into the Gaza Strip, it has been speaking to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan to contribute to the multinational force.
Last week Netanyahu hinted that he would be strongly opposed to any role for Turkish security forces in Gaza. On Sunday, he said Israel would decide which foreign forces to allow in Gaza.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to Israel aimed at shoring up the truce, said on Friday the international force would have to be made up of “countries that Israel’s comfortable with”. He made no comment on Turkish involvement.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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PRAGUE (Reuters) -Czech President Petr Pavel on Monday tapped Andrej Babis, leader of the populist ANO party that won a parliamentary election this month, to lead talks on forming a new government, a next step in the billionaire former prime minister’s return to power.
Since the October 3-4 election, ANO has been in talks with the right-wing, eurosceptic Motorists and the far-right, anti-EU and anti-NATO SPD parties, which together would hold a combined 108 out of the 200 seats in parliament’s lower house.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet)
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PODGORICA (Reuters) -Police in Montenegro said on Monday they had detained dozens of Turkish and Azeri nationals after a weekend of violence triggered by the stabbing of a Montenegrin man in the capital Podgorica by a group of Turks.
President Jakov Milatovic has called for calm, while Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said his government would temporarily suspend a visa-free regime for Turkish nationals.
The Montenegrin man was stabbed on Saturday night after an exchange of insults with a group of Turkish citizens, though his injuries were not life-threatening.
Dozens of local people on Sunday retaliated by vandalising vehicles with Turkish number plates and at one point forced some Turkish citizens to barricade themselves in a casino.
The police said they had detained two people suspected of being involved in the stabbing incident, a Turkish national and an Azeri, as well as an additional 45 Turkish and Azeri citizens suspected of lacking legal residence documents.
They fined seven of those detained and ordered the deportation of eight others, police said in a statement.
Out of 100,000 foreign citizens registered permanently or temporarily in Montenegro, around 13,000 are Turks, Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic said.
Officials say there has been an increase in the number of Turkish citizens opening businesses or seeking work in Montenegro, a tiny Adriatic state of around 620,000 people heavily reliant on tourism, ahead of its expected accession in the coming years to the European Union.
“With the aim of preserving economic activity and good bilateral relations, we will initiate intensive discussions with the Republic of Turkey in the coming period to find, in the spirit of good cooperation and partnership, the best model (of visa arrangements) in our mutual interest,” Spajic said on X.
President Milatovic condemned the violence.
“There must be no room for collective guilt or the stigmatization of an entire people,” Milatovic said. “Montenegro needs a more responsible immigration policy: firm against abuses and crime, fair towards all who respect our laws.”
(Reporting by Stevo vasiljevic, writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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BEIJING (Reuters) -China urged Germany on Monday to take a long-term view of ties between the world’s second and third largest economies, seeking to downplay suggestions of rising tension after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul postponed his first trip to Beijing.
Wadephul was originally due in the Chinese capital from Sunday on the first visit by a minister of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government, but opted not to travel after only one of his requested meetings was confirmed, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
That prompted a senior German parliamentarian to accuse China of having provoked the cancellation from a fear of debate.
“China has always viewed and developed its ties with Germany from a strategic and long-term perspective,” said Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson of China’s foreign ministry.
“The two sides should respect each other, treat each other as equals and cooperate for win-win results to propel bilateral ties along the right track,” Guo told a press conference on Monday.
The “current circumstances” provided further reason for both countries to seek common cause, he added, but gave no details.
Germany is China’s top European trade partner, with two-way trade exceeding $200 billion in 2025, Chinese data shows.
However, neither side has made any official visits since Merz’s Christian Democratic Union party defeated the Social Democrat Party of his predecessors, Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel, in polls this year.
In comparison, China’s top diplomat has visited Austria, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Switzerland this year.
Wadephul has struck an increasingly tough stance on China since he took office as foreign minister in May.
He has highlighted Beijing’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, its “increasingly aggressive behaviour” in the Indo-Pacific region, and its export curbs on rare earths and semiconductors.
In doing so, he has gone further than predecessor Annalena Baerbock, already known for being outspoken, who labelled Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator”.
On Friday, Agnieszka Brugger, a senior leader of the opposition Greens, said “the cancellation of Foreign Minister Wadephul’s trip to mainland China is only logical and consistent”.
She added, “The list of extremely difficult issues with China, which is a relevant player in many global political issues, is growing ever longer.”
(Reporting by Liz Lee; Writing by Joe Cash; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Clarence Fernandez)
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(Reuters) -Greek authorities launched a search-and-rescue operation off the island of Lesbos on Monday after rescuing seven migrants from the sea southwest of Cape Agrilia, officials said.
Two people were also recovered unresponsive, the Coast Guard said, adding that the search is continuing for any additional missing persons.
The operation involves two vessels, a helicopter, and a land-based Coast Guard unit, it added.
Greece, at the southern tip of the European Union, has long been a favoured gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The Mediterranean nation has recently toughened migration rules, following a resurgence of arrivals from Libya via the Greek islands of Crete and Gavdos.
(Reporting by Antonis Pothitos; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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VILNIUS (Reuters) -NATO member Lithuania closed Vilnius Airport and Belarus border crossings on Sunday after several objects, identified as likely helium balloons, entered its airspace, the National Crisis Management Centre said, the fourth such incident this week.
Lithuania has said balloons are sent by smugglers transporting contraband cigarettes, but it also blames Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for not stopping the practice.
Traffic at the capital airport was suspended until 2340 GMT, while the Belarus border will remain shut pending a meeting of Lithuania’s National Security Commission on Monday, officials said.
The Vilnius airport also closed on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday of this week, as well as on October 5, each time due to balloons entering the capital’s airspace, authorities have said.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas, editing by Terje Solsvik)
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PARIS (Reuters) -Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik has asked Swiss authorities to investigate threatening messages posted online since the sudden death of U.S. grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, according to a copy of the filing seen by Reuters on Sunday.
Kramnik, who raised questions about possible cheating by Naroditsky and other players last year, is facing disciplinary proceedings over public attacks on the American, a popular streamer and commentator who died earlier this month aged 29. The cause of his death has not been disclosed.
In a nine-page complaint submitted to the Geneva public prosecutor on October 25, Kramnik said he and his family had received “hundreds of terrifying private messages and public comments” on social media, many of them calling for his death or urging him to take his own life.
He also received death threats via email, which were also seen by Reuters.
The filing by the Russian-born grandmaster, who has lived in Switzerland for several years, called for an investigation to be opened into the threatening messages and also asked for police protection.
The filing does not name any suspects but cites numerous threatening and abusive messages posted on X since October 19, the day Naroditsky was found dead in North Carolina.
CHESS FEDERATION LAUNCHES ETHICS REVIEW
Naroditsky’s death prompted an outpouring of grief and an ethics review by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) into Kramnik’s months-long online campaign hinting at cheating by top players, including Naroditsky, during internet events.
Naroditsky’s name appeared on a list published by Kramnik last year of players showing unusually low blunder rates in the final seconds of online games.
Kramnik has denied accusing Naroditsky personally of cheating, saying his remarks were “reasoned questions” based on statistical analysis.
The data he cited came from the Titled Tuesday competition hosted on the chess.com platform last year – a biweekly online event reserved for titled players – which Kramnik mockingly labelled “Cheating Tuesday”.
In his final stream on Twitch on October 17, Naroditsky, who finished ninth in the over-the-board blitz world championship, spoke about the “lingering effect” of Kramnik’s allegations. Naroditsky denied any wrongdoing.
In his complaint to prosecutors, Kramnik said press headlines linking him to Naroditsky’s death were “deeply damaging to my honor”.
FIDE declined to comment on Kramnik’s filing when contacted by Reuters on Sunday.
Top players including world number one Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura have publicly condemned Kramnik’s repeated insinuations against fellow competitors.
Kramnik, world champion from 2000 to 2007, said he continues to support “ethical and fair” chess and denounced the online campaign against him as “unprecedented in its violence”.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot;Editing by Helen Popper)
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(Reuters) -Russian anti-aircraft units downed a second Ukrainian drone headed for Moscow on Sunday, the capital’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The first drone was downed earlier on Sunday.
Sobyanin said specialist teams were examining fragments of the drones where they had hit the ground.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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KARACHI (Reuters) -Five Pakistani soldiers and 25 militants have died in clashes near the border with Afghanistan, the military said on Sunday, as delegations from both countries met to try to defuse tensions after the deadliest fighting in years.
The militants tried to cross over from Afghanistan on Friday and Saturday in Kurram and North Waziristan districts, rugged areas along Pakistan’s northwestern frontier, the Pakistani military’s media wing said.
It said the attempted infiltrations cast doubt on the intentions of the government in Afghanistan in “regards to addressing the issue of terrorism emanating from its soil”.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman and the defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported attacks.
The Taliban denies accusations of sheltering militants and says Pakistan’s military operations violate Afghan sovereignty.
Officials from both countries are meeting in Istanbul to prevent a relapse into conflict after clashes between their armies earlier this month – the worst border fighting since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover of Kabul.
That fighting erupted after Pakistan demanded the Taliban rein in militants it says operate from Afghan sanctuaries, prompting heavy exchanges of fire and Pakistani airstrikes. Both sides reached a truce in Doha last Sunday.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, said on Saturday the truce was holding and he believed Afghanistan wanted peace. But he warned that failure to reach an agreement in Istanbul would mean “open war”.
Pakistan’s military described the attackers on Friday and Saturday as members of “Fitna al Khwarij” a term it uses for groups it says are inspired by militant ideology and backed by “foreign sponsors”.
(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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(Reuters) -Kosovo’s parliament on Sunday failed to elect Albin Kurti as prime minister, deepening the country’s political crisis with a snap election seen as the only solution to overcome a political deadlock after inconclusive polls in February.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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PARIS—French courts have delivered one shock ruling after another this year, testing the balance of power between the country’s fiercely independent judiciary and its political leadership.
In March, a court banned far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running for office for five years after finding her guilty of embezzling European Union funds. Then, on Tuesday, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy became the first former president to see the inside of a prison cell, after judges sentenced him to five years for conspiring to obtain campaign funds from Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
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DUBLIN (Reuters) -Catherine Connolly, an independent lawmaker on the far left of the Irish political spectrum, was elected president on Saturday after winning 63% of the first preference vote for the largely ceremonial role.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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