German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande head to Moscow on Friday to secure President Vladimir Putin´s support for a peace plan to end surging separatist violence in the east. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said talks with Merkel and Hollande late Thursday raised “hope for a ceasefire” after …

Tunisia’s new president pledged a rule of reconciliation and consensus as he took his oath Wednesday before the newly elected parliament to complete the country’s democratic transition. The inauguration of Beji Caid Essebsi, an 88-year-old political veteran, comes in a year in which Tunisians wrote a new constitution and elected …

Seven soldiers have been killed as clashes erupted in the centre of Libya’s main eastern city Benghazi on Thursday, with pro-government forces pushing to take the port district from Islamist militants. The fighting mirrors a wider struggle in the oil-producing North African state where two governments and parliaments, allied to …

The European Union has pledged one billion euros in funding for the crises in Syria and Iraq and the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the bloc’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has said. “This package will strengthen our actions to help restore peace and …

Kurdish militants have wrestled control of 65 villages in Kobane’s countryside from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) control since Jan. 26 in northern Syria, according to a Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) source. “Kurdish fighters are advancing rapidly because they know their area geographically very well and …

French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Laurent Fabius on Thursday met the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here. Fabius, accompanied by a delegation of fellow dignitaries, started his official trip to India today. According to reports, Fabius will also be holding meetings with Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu …

Pro-Russia rebels and the Ukrainian authorities agreed on Friday on a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from the epicentre of fighting in eastern Ukraine, rebel and government officials said, as German and French leaders prepared to bring their peace plan to Moscow. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois …

NATO was set Thursday to agree a major boost to its defences in eastern Europe including six bases and a spearhead force of 5,000 troops in response to what it called Russian aggression in Ukraine. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg insisted that the moves likely to be approved by defence ministers …

The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Thursday welcomed the visit by French President Francois Hollande with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with a new peace initiative amid escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine. “NATO fully supports all efforts to reach a negotiated peaceful solution to the conflict …

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel Thursday ruled out a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine. “This issue is not going to be resolved militarily,” he told a press conference on the sidelines of a NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels. “This issue , the Russian aggression in Ukraine has …