EU-FRANCE-ATTACKS

NANTES, France — There are no ties between two rampaging drivers who injured a total of 23 people in nearly identical attacks, French government officials said Tuesday, downplaying any links to terrorism. But counterterrorism investigators are probing the first of three attacks in recent days — the stabbing of police officers that left the suspect dead. 

GREECE-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

ATHENS, Greece — Greek lawmakers failed to elect a new president Thursday, stoking concerns the country may be on the verge of early elections that may see the main anti-bailout opposition party swept to power. SENT: 130 words. 

EU-UKRAINE-REBEL-UNIVERSITY

DONETSK, Ukraine — In eastern Ukraine, where the country's pro-Russian insurgency has claimed thousands of lives, the region's top university is a major victim of the bitterness and rifts the fighting has caused. The conflict has not only split the university in half and forced many students and professors to quit, it also has affected everything from the school's curriculum and the language of its instruction to its coat of arms and diplomas. 

NORTHERN IRELAND-PEACE TALKS

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Northern Ireland leaders say they are close to reaching an agreement to sustain their troubled Catholic-Protestant government, after negotiating around the clock to forge a new power-sharing pact. Irish Catholic and British Protestant politicians have spent the past 11 weeks seeking to resolve several chronic disputes that threaten to destroy their 7½-year-old alliance, the cornerstone of two decades' peacemaking. 

UKRAINE

KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine's parliament has voted to abandon the country's nonaligned status, a move that could be a step toward seeking membership in NATO. Although Ukraine had pursued NATO membership several years ago, it declared itself a non-bloc country after Russia-friendly Viktor Yanukovych became president in 2010. Yanukovych fled the country in February after months of street protests that exploded into violence, and was replaced by Western-leaning Petro Poroshenko in May. 

EU-IRELAND-ABORTION

DUBLIN — Dublin judges are deciding whether a brain-dead pregnant woman should be kept on life support to give her 17-week-old fetus a chance at life, a case that has reignited debate over Ireland's abortion ban. Three High Court judges are hearing arguments from five groups of lawyers representing the woman, her fetus, her parents, her partner and the hospital. The judges may issue a ruling later Tuesday.