Exclusive: Japan to upgrade Patriot batteries for Olympics as North Korean missile threat grows: sources
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is upgrading its Patriot PAC-3 missile defense system in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, adding range and accuracy needed to intercept more advanced North Korean ballistic missiles, four sources with knowledge of the plan…
Turkey military purge harming fight against Islamic State: Clapper
ASPEN, Colo. (Reuters) – Turkey’s purge of its military after a failed coup attempt is hindering cooperation in the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State, James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said on Thursday.
Peru’s Kuczynski takes office with a vow to fight inequality
LIMA (Reuters) – Pedro Pablo Kuczynski took office as Peru’s president on Thursday, asking the opposition-controlled Congress to help him fight income inequality and ensure all Peruvians have access to running water, health care and free primary educat…
Suspects arrested in Yemen over attack on Aden old folks’ home
ADEN (Reuters) – Yemeni security forces have arrested a number of suspects in connection with an attack on a senior citizens’ home in Aden in March in which at least 16 people were killed, including four Indian nuns, a spokesman said on Thursday.
In a country wary of migrants, Pope tells Poles to welcome refugees
KRAKOW, Poland (Reuters) – Pope Francis urged young people on Thursday to welcome migrants and refugees, putting himself in direct contrast with the government of Poland on the second day of his visit there.
Brazil’s Lula tells U.N. his rights violated in corruption probe
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Lawyers for Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva petitioned the United Nations on Thursday with allegations that his human rights had been violated in a corruption investigation.
Indonesia executes three Nigerians, one local, despite protests
CILACAP, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesia executed four convicted drug traffickers, three of them Nigerians, in the early hours of Friday, leaving the fate of 10 others uncertain.
Venezuela’s opposition-run congress defies government over ban
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition-run National Assembly defied President Nicolas Maduro’s government and ratcheted up a conflict of powers on Thursday by reinstating three lawmakers banned over fraud accusations in the December parliamentary v…
Israel’s Netanyahu celebrates warming ties with Sisi’s Egypt
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday praised warming relations with Egypt and its president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted an Islamist government seen as hostile to ties between the neighbors.
Spain’s Rajoy accepts mandate to form government, warns he may fail
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Thursday he had accepted a mandate from the King to form a government although he warned he might fail and left open the date for a potential confidence vote in parliament.
