WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David
Cameron will tell leaders of some of the world’s biggest
economies on Friday that they must work together to stop the
economic crisis afflicting the euro zone from spreading
worldwide.

Cameron’s message to other Group of Eight leaders, who begin
a summit on Friday at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp
David, Maryland, would be that “we need to work together to
protect ourselves against global contagion from the economic
crisis and to promote global trade,” an aide to Cameron said.

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday he would hold talks with new French President Francois Hollande before an international summit this week, confident they would find “common ground” on how to tackle Europe’s economic crisis.

Like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Cameron has backed tough austerity policies to tackle Europe’s debt and deficit problems while the newly-elected Hollande has vowed to shift the focus to growth.

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Defense spending cuts are putting an increasing strain on relations between the United States and its European allies in NATO, sharpening transatlantic battles over issues ranging from financing Afghan security forces to missile defense.

European governments have slashed defense budgets in response to the economic crisis. Coupled with U.S. plans to cut $487 billion of its own projected defense spending over the next decade and shift its focus toward Asia, this will limit NATO’s capabilities and force it to scale back its ambitions.

LONDON (Reuters) – China is beset by a moral crisis, widespread corruption and lawlessness, leading millions of Chinese to seek solace in Buddhism, Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, said on Monday.

The Dalai Lama was in London to receive the $1.7 million Templeton prize for his work affirming the spiritual dimension of life.

LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s military chief of staff said on Thursday that Moscow could carry out pre-emptive strikes on future NATO missile defense installations in Europe to protect its security – a stark warning against a system the Kremlin sees as a threat.

General Nikolai Makarov’s remark underlined Russian opposition to an anti-missile shield the United States and NATO are developing, an issue that will continue to strain relations after Vladimir Putin starts a six-year presidential term on Monday.

LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – NATO is hopeful of reaching a deal with Russia on missile defense despite opposition from the Kremlin to the alliance’s plans for a missile shield, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday.

However a conference in Moscow also on Thursday led to no agreement on the issue, with Russia using computer modeling to show how it believed the shield could threaten its security.

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) – Argentina’s new ambassador to
London ambushed Britain’s foreign minister over the disputed
Falklands Islands on Monday, asking him at a public meeting
whether he was ready to “give peace a chance” by opening talks
on the islands’ future.

Alicia Castro, formerly Argentina’s ambassador to Venezuela,
took up her post in London in March, just as tensions escalated
between Britain and Argentina 30 years after they went to war
over the South Atlantic islands, known in Spanish as Las
Malvinas.

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) – Zambia, Africa’s top copper
producer, plans to tighten its grip on the government’s share of
profits made at the country’s mines, boosting tax revenue and
ensuring a more level playing field for Chinese and other
investors.

Investors in miners operating in Zambia, which include
Glencore, Indian miner Vedanta and
Canadian-listed First Quantum, have fretted over
possible increases in taxes under a government elected last
year, against the backdrop of a surge of resource nationalism
across Africa.

LONDON (Reuters) – A businessman whose murder sparked political upheaval in China was not a British spy, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Thursday, trying to quell speculation that has swirled around the man’s mysterious death.

An influential parliamentary committee had asked Hague for more information about what Britain knew about Neil Heywood’s death in a hotel room in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqinq last November, and about media speculation he may have been a British spy or informant.