Hamburg - Germany cancelled the licences of two Turkish-language Islamic television stations Thursday, eight weeks after senior executives were sent to jail for embezzlement.
The stations, Kanal 7 INT and TVT, were linked to the Deniz Feneri charity, which collected alms for the poor from devout Muslims living in western Europe.
Beirut - Syria has rejected four ambassadorial candidates put forward to represent Lebanon in Syria, Lebanon's Naharnet news website reported Thursday.
"The process of exchanging ambassadors between the two countries has come to a standstill," the website quoted an informed source as saying.
Baghdad - US forces in Iraq said Thursday that an Iraqi soldier killed two US soldiers and injured another six in the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday.
An Iraqi soldier opened fire on a group of US soldiers while they were waiting in a courtyard of a building, a US army official said in Baghdad. The US soldiers returned fire and killed the Iraqi soldier.
Los Angeles - Kenny Chesney took the entertainer of the year prize for the fourth time in five years at the Country Music Awards in Nashville, while former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood was named female vocalist of the year. Brad Paisley also repeated in the male and vocalist of the year category.
Chesney's win late Wedneasday helped him consolidate his status as the undisputed king of country music.
Cannes, France - The World Trade Organization does not work properly and Russia will not join it if the conditions for accession are "humiliating," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday ahead of a summit with European Union leaders.