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EU negotiators have hiked possible payment demands for Brexit over recent weeks, officials say, widening the divide between Brussels and London, which questions whether it owes anything at all before talks start next month. Hours before chief negotiator Michel Barnier was due to give more details on the EU’s standpoint, a Financial Times headline saying the EU might seek an upfront payment in 2019 of up to 100 billion euros ($110 billion), drew an immediate rejection from Britain’s Brexit Secretary David Davis that he would pay that sum. The European Commission has previously given a ballpark estimate of the bill …

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Greece reached a deal with its European lenders Tuesday for more reforms in exchange for a badly needed bailout installment so Athens could avoid possible bankruptcy. After months of often tough talks, Greek officials agreed to more pension cuts and tax increases. The European Commission and European Central Bank will bring the deal to their finance ministers at their May 22 meeting. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ leftist government says it is confident parliament will approve the new round of cuts. Greece desperately needs about $8 billion to meet a debt payment in July or stare possible bankruptcy in the …

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Turkey could be seeking to play Moscow off Washington, according to some analysts, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set for separate meetings this month with Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. “Mr Erdogan thinks he is offering Turkey to the highest bidder,” political consultant Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners told VOA, “so it’s between Trump and Putin (that) whoever puts up the biggest bid will gain Turkey’s favor.” Putin will host Erdogan Wednesday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. That meeting comes at a critical time with rapprochement efforts stalling. “This is an opportunity …

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Does Russia have a “mystery weapon” capable of threatening the entire U.S. Navy? Russian media have claimed that the Russian military has developed technology capable of neutralizing an adversary’s aircraft, ships and missiles within a 5,000-kilometer radius. The claim, first reported by Vesti News on April 14, said a Russian warplane had successfully tested the electronic jamming device on a U.S. warship, the destroyer Donald Cook in the Black Sea. The report, which used a mock-up simulation to demonstrate the exercise, also quoted anonymous Russian sources claiming the technology could wipe out the entire U.S. Navy. While the USS Donald …

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If Emmanuel Macron wins Sunday’s French presidential runoff, Europe’s pro-EU liberals will finally have their champion. For centrists who have been licking their wounds since Britain voted to quit the EU a year ago, the 39-year-old will be the gallant young hero who slew the most dangerous populist dragon of them all, the National Front’s Marine Le Pen. From a Paris dinner party with the young leaders of Belgium and Luxembourg, to a conspicuous Twitter bromance with Italy’s ex-premier Matteo Renzi, Macron has already built a circle of likeminded peers, unafraid to promote closer EU integration at a time when …

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The European Union clashed on Tuesday with the visiting leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, by publicly supporting an international mission to look into alleged human rights abuses by the country’s security forces against Rohingya Muslims. The EU’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini, speaking at a news conference with Suu Kyi, said an agreed resolution of the U.N. Human Rights Council would help clear up uncertainty about allegations of killings, torture and rape against Rohingyas. On the basis of that resolution, the top United Nations human rights body will send an international fact-finding mission to Myanmar despite Suu Kyi’s reservations. …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Tuesday that Russia interfered in last year’s U.S. presidential election, saying such allegations are “simply rumors” that are being leveraged for political reasons in the United States. Putin’s denial came at a joint news conference in Sochi, Russia, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the two leaders met amid increasingly strained relations over the war in Syria, and Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region in neighboring Ukraine. Putin’s remarks are at odds with findings from U.S. intelligence agencies that have reported Russia was responsible for the hacking of Democratic Party email accounts, which were intended …

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Switzerland’s Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) on Tuesday defended its efforts to combat theft of business secrets after a Swiss man was arrested in Germany on suspicion of working for the spy agency. The 54-year-old man, identified only as Daniel M., was arrested on Friday. His lawyer told a Swiss newspaper he was suspected of trying to find out how German states have obtained CDs containing details of secret Swiss bank accounts set up by Germans to evade tax. The man was detained in Frankfurt, and officers from Germany’s federal criminal police carried out searches at several addresses in the region. …

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Showtime cable network is presenting four hours of director Oliver Stone interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin on four consecutive nights in June. The network announced Monday that “The Putin Interviews” will air first on June 12 at 9 p.m. Eastern, with three additional hour-long installments on the following nights. Showtime said Stone interviewed Putin more than a dozen times over the past two years, most recently in February.   Showtime is comparing the project to conversations held by British TV host David Frost and former U.S. president Richard Nixon in 1977.   Stone had also interviewed Putin for his documentary …

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Protesters in the United States and around the world have marked International Workers Day, May Day, with rallies and demonstrations that, from France to Turkey, turned violent Monday. VOA Europe Correspondent Luis Ramirez reports. …

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It’s nearly party time for Britain’s Princess Charlotte, who celebrates her 2nd birthday on Tuesday. Her parents marked the occasion Monday by distributing a snapshot of Charlotte taken by her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge. Here are five things to know about the family as the landmark nears: Why haven’t we seen more of Princess Charlotte?   Prince William and his wife, Kate, want to protect their daughter’s privacy. It’s not surprising that Kate took the official photo to mark Charlotte’s second birthday on the protected grounds of the family’s country estate. The royal couple has tried to keep Charlotte …

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