LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – The European Union agreed on Monday to suspend most of its sanctions against Myanmar for a year despite a dispute over a parliamentary oath between Myanmar’s ruling, army-backed party and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In the first clear sign of friction since Suu Kyi’s party swept historic by-elections, the ruling party on Monday rejected her demand to replace the words “safeguard the constitution” with “respect the constitution” in the oath.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union member states may review in the next two months an embargo on Iranian oil imports that is scheduled to take effect from July, a senior EU official said on Friday.

For now, the official said there was no economic reason to change plans for the ban, which was agreed in January as part of EU efforts to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

BRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters) – The head of NATO called on
China and Russia on Thursday to help fund Afghan security after
2014, as the alliance tries to rally contributions from a wider
range of sources before most foreign combat troops pull out of
Afghanistan.

NATO estimates that the annual cost of maintaining Afghan
security forces will be some $4 billion, and the United States
is hoping for contributions worth 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion)
from other NATO allies and partners. But so far
only Britain has publicly pledged an actual amount of cash, $110
million a year.

BRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters) – European Union governments
are to suspend most sanctions against Myanmar next week, EU
diplomats said on Thursday, in recognition of rapid political
and economic reforms after decades of military dictatorship.

Envoys of EU governments reached a preliminary deal on the
issue late on Wednesday and foreign ministers of EU states are
expected to approve the move formally at a meeting in Luxembourg
on April 23, after which it can take effect, diplomats said.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO should be able to nail down plans next month on the size and cost of Afghan security forces needed after most foreign troops leave in 2014, the alliance’s chief said on Wednesday at a meeting where Washington pressed allies to commit funds.

A timetable agreed between NATO and Afghanistan in 2010 calls for the withdrawal of most foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, when Afghan security forces are supposed to have full control.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Renewed diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear program will muffle what Barack Obama last month called the “drums of war”, but the beat will soon get louder if warm words do not lead swiftly to action that can defuse the decade-old dispute.

For over a year until this weekend in Istanbul, negotiations had been frozen; aides to the U.S. president have warned of a “closing window” for talking before Washington, or its Israeli ally, might start shooting; and Tehran, squeezed by Western sanctions, threatened to blockade Gulf tankers – all of which had driven up oil prices for an already laboring world economy.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – After a year of sanctions and saber-rattling over Iran’s nuclear program, negotiators from Tehran and six world powers finally resumed talks and found at least enough common ground to agree to meet again next month.

With threats of war hanging over an already unsettled Middle East, U.S. and other Western diplomats welcomed their Iranian counterparts willingness in Istanbul on Saturday to discuss their nuclear activities – something they had refused since early last year.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Iran and world powers have a rare chance on Saturday to halt a downward diplomatic spiral over Tehran’s nuclear program and ease fears of a new Middle East war when they resume stalled talks, but diplomats warn against expecting quick results.

The negotiations in Istanbul, the first between Iran and the six powers in 15 months, are unlikely to yield any major breakthrough but Western diplomats hope at last to see readiness from Tehran to start discuss issues of substance.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Iran and the six world powers prepared on Friday for rare talks aimed at easing fears that a deepening dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program could plunge the Middle East into a new war.

Senior officials from Iran and the big powers arrived in Istanbul ahead of Saturday’s bid to restart stalled diplomacy after months of soaring tension and persistent speculation that Israel might bomb Iranian nuclear sites.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Iran and the six world powers prepared on Friday for rare talks aimed at easing fears that a deepening dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program could plunge the Middle East into a new war.

Officials from Iran and the six major powers arrived in Istanbul ahead of Saturday’s bid to restart stalled diplomacy following months of soaring tension and persistent speculation that Israel might attack Iranian nuclear sites.