Sarkozy battles far-right in French regional vote
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) – Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy rallied conservatives in eastern France on Wednesday, hoping to fend off a strong challenge by the far-right National Front (FN) in looming regional elections.
France’s Hollande heads to Russia hoping for Syria breakthrough
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s president heads to Moscow on Thursday to try to win concessions from Russia’s Vladimir Putin to fight Islamic State and press on with a political solution in Syria, but diplomats warn that major differences will make a breakt…
Canada’s murder rate in 2014 falls to 50-year low
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s murder rate in 2014 edged down to a near 50-year low, but aboriginals accounted for a disproportionately high number of victims, official data showed on Wednesday.
Palestinian stabs Israeli soldier and is shot dead: army
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A Palestinian stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli soldier on Wednesday and was shot dead by troops, the army and a hospital official said, a day after a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to explore how to end eight…
Authorities in Niger arrest five journalists
NIAMEY (Reuters) – Authorities in Niger have arrested five journalists in the latest sign of political tension ahead of elections in February in which President Issoufou Mahamadou will seek a second five-year term.
Russia and Turkey refuse to back down in row over jet downing
ISTANBUL/NIZHNY TAGIL, Russia (Reuters) – Russia sent an advanced missile system to Syria on Wednesday to protect its jets operating there and pledged its air force would keep flying missions near Turkish air space, sounding a defiant note after Turkey…
Germany’s Merkel vows more support for France after attacks
PARIS (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she would think about how Germany could further support France in fighting terrorism following the Nov. 13 attacks by Islamist militants in Paris that killed 130 people.
UK-made cruise missile used in deadly airstrike on Yemeni factory: Rights groups
DOHA (Reuters) – The Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting in Yemen used a British-made cruise missile in an attack on a Yemeni ceramics factory which killed at least one civilian and injured several more, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch sai…
Paris attacks a reason Canada slowing Syria migrant flow, PM says
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Public security concerns after the Paris attacks were part of the reason Canada pushed back its end-year deadline for accepting 25,000 Syrian refugees, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday.
Saudis to sue Twitter user who called poet’s death sentence ‘ISIS-like’
DOHA (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s justice ministry plans to sue a Twitter user who compared the death sentence handed down on Friday to a Palestinian poet to the punishments meted out by Islamic State, a major government-aligned newspaper reported on Wed…
