French prefer independent Macron to favorite Fillon for president: poll
PARIS (Reuters) – Most French voters including National Front supporters think independent Emmanuel Macron would make a better president than conservative election frontrunner Francois Fillon, an opinion poll showed on Friday.
Exclusive: Chinese education giant helps its students game the SAT
LONDON/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – When the new SAT was given for the first time in March, the owner of the test took unprecedented steps to stop “bad actors” from collecting and circulating material from the all-important college entrance exam.
‘Underground’ Catholics pose challenge for Pope’s hopes of better relations with China
BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Every winter Sunday in the Chinese village of Youtong, hundreds of Catholic faithful brave subzero temperatures to meet in a makeshift, tin-roofed church. Tucked away in a back alley in a rural area of Hebei, the province with China’s biggest Catholic community, the gatherings are tolerated – but are illegal in the eyes of the local authorities.
Starry nights and empty streets in Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (Reuters) – Stars fill the night sky over the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, and the streets are eerily quiet. The calm might not last much longer.
Philippine police arrest six during massive Manila meth seizure
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine authorities arrested six people and seized $67 million worth of methamphetamine on Friday, in one of the biggest narcotics hauls of a nationwide drugs war that has focused heavily on eliminating street-level dealers.
Mediterranean death toll is record 5,000 migrants this year: agencies
GENEVA (Reuters) – A record 5,000 migrants are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea this year, following two shipwrecks on Thursday in which some 100 people, mainly West Africans, were feared dead, aid agencies said on Friday.
Highlights: Russian President Putin’s end-of-year news conference
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The following are highlights from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual end-of-year news conference.
Opponents, family feud take shine off French Le Pen’s hopes
PARIS (Reuters) – For two years, disaffection with mainstream politics and disarray among her opponents have played to Marine Le Pen’s agenda. But as the days tick down to election year in France, events may have started to dim her presidential prospec…
Putin: Plane crash that killed Polish president must not be used to political ends
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The plane crash which killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski on Russian soil in 2010 should not be used to whip up tensions between the two countries, President Vladimir Putin said at his end-of-year news conference on Friday.
Putin says killing of Russian Ankara envoy won’t hurt Turkey ties
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey won’t hurt Russia’s relations with Ankara, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
