France’s Marine Le Pen to test popularity in regional vote
PARIS (Reuters) – After much hesitation, France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Tuesday she would stand in regional elections in December, a move that will test her popularity before the 2017 presidential vote.
Kuwait detains 60 suspected of Islamist militant links: newspaper
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwait has detained 60 people and closed a local charity for alleged violations in raising funds for Syrians, local media said Tuesday, as part of a crackdown on suspected militant links after the Gulf Arab state’s worst ever suicide…
China says some South China Sea land reclamation projects completed
BEIJING (Reuters) – China has completed some of its land reclamation on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, raising the stakes in Beijing’s territorial dispute with its Asian neighbors.
Man sets himself alight on Japan bullet train, second passenger dies
TOKYO (Reuters) – Two passengers on a Japanese Shinkansen bullet train died on Tuesday after one doused himself in oil and set it ablaze, police said, but there was no immediate indication of a motive for the action that left 26 others injured.
Israel says Syria’s Assad may be left with rump state
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – A senior Israeli defense official said President Bashar al-Assad controlled just a fifth of Syria and may end up in charge of a rump state dominated by his minority Alawite sect.
Indonesia military plane crash kills at least 30: govt official
JAKARTA (Reuters) – An Indonesian military transport plane crashed into a hotel and houses in the northern Sumatra city of Medan on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people, an official said.
Car bomb in Yemeni capital hits mourners, dozens wounded
SANAA (Reuters) – A car bomb claimed by Islamic State exploded in the Yemeni capital Sanaa overnight, medics said, wounding at least 28 people gathered to mourn another attack earlier this month.
Iran’s Zarif returning to Vienna with Salehi for nuclear talks: IRNA
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, departed Tehran for Vienna with nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi and Hossein Fereydoon, a brother and close aide to President Hassan Rouhani, for nuclear talks, state news agency IRNA repor…
Car bomb attack kills Egypt’s top public prosecutor
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s top public prosecutor was killed by a car bomb attack on his convoy on Monday, the most senior state official to die at the hands of militants since the toppling of an Islamist president two years ago.
After decade of disasters, U.N. shifts its Asia operations
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The United Nations is downsizing its humanitarian staff in some Asian countries where governments have stepped up with funds and manpower after a decade of massive floods, storms and earthquakes.
