U.S., allies stage 18 air strikes against Islamic State: coalition
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S.-led military coalition launched 18 air strikes in Syria and Iraq against Islamic State since early Thursday, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement.
Islamist rebels battle Syrian army near Assad heartland
AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamist rebels and the Syrian army fought fierce battles in Latakia province overnight close to President Bashar al-Assad’s ancestral home, the army and rebels said, after weeks of insurgent gains in the country’s northwest.
Topless Femen activists disrupt Le Pen’s May Day speech in Paris
PARIS (Reuters) – Three topless women from the Femen activist group, making Nazi salutes, disrupted a May Day speech by French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Friday attacking her political rivals.
Hundreds of students seek refuge outside U.S. embassy in Burundi
BUJUMBURA (Reuters) – Hundreds of students from a Burundi university shuttered by the government were seeking refuge outside the U.S. embassy in the capital on Friday, amid unrest and escalating tensions ahead of the June 26 presidential vote.
Thirty graves found at suspected Thai trafficking camp: police
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai police on Friday found at least 30 graves believed to belong to migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh at what authorities say is an abandoned trafficking camp in remote jungle in Thailand’s south, police said.
Scottish nationalist Sturgeon steals the show in British election
LONDON (Reuters) – Detractors have vilified her as the most dangerous woman in Britain and an existential threat to the United Kingdom.
No meetings at tourist hotspots, China reminds officials
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top graft buster took the unusual step on Friday of plastering its website with pictures of 21 top Chinese tourist sites where officials are banned from holding meetings, a reminder of its crackdown on extravagance and corru…
Earthquake of magnitude 7.1 strikes off Papua New Guinea: USGS
(Reuters) – An earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck off Papua New Guinea on Friday, 128 km south-south-west of Rabaul, at a depth of 61 km, the United States Geological Survey reported.
Macedonian prosecutor indicts opposition leader in wiretap scandal
SKOPJE (Reuters) – The Macedonian state prosecutor formally indicted the country’s top opposition politician late on Thursday over his role in a surveillance scandal that challenged the nine-year rule of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
Jailed Islamic State militant still longs for martyrdom
ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) – The airstrike obliterated its target in northern Iraq and sent the men scattering. Four of them dived into a river and crossed to safety on the other side, but the fifth froze at the water’s edge. He had never learned to swim.
