Frustration with the economy was a strong theme in the Italian elections, says Peter Ceretti of the EIU.

By Michelle Martin and Holger Hansen BERLIN (Reuters) – The leader of the youth wing of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) is optimistic a majority of the party’s members will vote down another alliance with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, he told Reuters on Friday. The result of the SPD’s binding ballot of its roughly 464,000 members […]

Sri Lanka’s ruling alliance was humiliated Sunday in local elections seen as a test of its leadership as the party of former strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse pulled off a stunning landslide victory, final results showed. The mid-term polls further strained the uneasy coalition between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as they face […]

By Phil Stewart and Lisa Barrington WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.S.-led coalition and its local allies in Syria struck pro-government forces with air and artillery fire overnight to repel “an unprovoked attack” near the Euphrates, the coalition said on Thursday. The incident underscores the potential for further conflict in Syria’s oil-rich east, where the U.S.-backed […]

Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats voted Sunday to begin formal coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, bringing Europe’s top economy a step closer to a new government after months of deadlock. At a special party congress in the western city of Bonn, 372 out of 642 delegates (56 percent) backed SPD chief Martin Schulz’s appeal […]

Angela Merkel’s plans for a grand coalition with her old partners the SPD could be over before they’ve even started amid a grassroots rebellion against rejoining her in government.

By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Despite saying that the Syrian government is not doing enough to stop Islamic State militants from moving through its territory, the U.S.-led coalition fighting the group does not intend to target militants in those areas, a senior coalition official said on Wednesday. The comments by British Army Major General […]

By Mohammed Mukhashaf ADEN (Reuters) – The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said on Wednesday it would keep the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port, vital for aid, open for a month despite a fresh missile attack against Riyadh, but it kept up air raids that killed at least nine people. The Western-backed coalition, which controls Yemen’s airspace […]

Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Saturday he was ready for a “new page” in relations with the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen if it stopped attacks on his country. The call came as his supporters battled Houthi fighters for a fourth day in the capital Sanaa while both sides traded blame for […]

By Paul Carrel and Gernot Heller BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would prefer a new election to ruling with a minority after talks on forming a three-way coalition failed overnight, but Germany’s president told parties they owed it to voters to try to form a government. The failure of exploratory coalition talks […]