Benita Ferrero-waldner

Egypt's controversial candidate to head culture body UNESCO again failed to win the required backing on Saturday, a spokesman said, after a third vote in a process tainted by charges of anti-Semitism. The balloting will now go to a fourth round on Monday, the spokesman said, after the the frontrunner, Egyptian culture minister Faruq Hosni, failed to win the nomination in the third round ballot of world envoys. Envoys at UNESCO's 58-nation executive council started voting Thursday for a successor to Japan's Koichiro Matsuura as director general, with Hosni, Egypt's culture minister for 22 years, seen as the favourite. Supporters say the Egyptian's election ... Read Full Story

The EU is unlikely to reach consensus on a candidate to head UNESCO, European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, seen as Egyptian Culture Minister Faruq Hosni's main rival for the job, said Friday. "It's unlikely" that the EU will reach agreement on a single candidate in the first round of the voting process, Ferrero-Waldner said at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Stockholm. However, she expressed hope that it "might be possible in the following round." "There are three candidates" from the EU to head the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said. In addition to Ferrero-Waldner, an Austrian ... Read Full Story

Israel has warned the European Union to limit its criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's largely right-wing cabinet or risk losing involvement in the Middle East peace process, an official said on Thursday. The warning was issued in a series of phone conversations in recent days between the deputy director of the Israeli foreign ministry's European desk Rafi Barak and the ambassadors of Britain, France and Germany, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "Israel asks the European Union to keep a low profile and conduct a quiet dialogue... But if these declarations continue, Europe will not be able to have involvement in ... Read Full Story

The mayor of an Afghan city was killed in a bomb attack and 30 Taliban-linked militants died in a police operation, among separate incidents of violence reported in Afghanistan Tuesday. The new bloodshed came as world leaders gathered in The Hague to focus on ways to help Afghanistan tackle a growing extremist insurgency and build stability. Sakhi Amirullah Amiri, the mayor of Afghanistan's eastern city of Khost, was killed as he was travelling home from work, police said. "The mayor has been killed. Two of his nephews and two civilians were wounded in the blast," said Khost province police chief Abdul Qayom Baqizoi. The ... Read Full Story

America's European allies pledged Friday to send more police trainers and cash to Afghanistan, but shied away from deploying more troops on a long-term basis in response to a renewed U.S. push to end the war. Meeting at a medieval Czech castle, European Union foreign ministers discussed ways to train Afghan security forces more quickly and effectively while keeping the 27-nation bloc's focus on rebuilding the battered country. U.S. forces account for more than half of the estimated 65,000 international troops in the country, and President Barack Obama ordered 4,000 more U.S. combat troops there Friday. "Europe should do more," said Franco Frattini, Italy's ... Read Full Story