Russia says it has killed Islamist insurgency chief
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian security forces have killed the leader of an Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus during a raid on a house in the Dagestan region, the national Anti-Terrorist Committee said on Monday.
French, Syrian intelligence agents in contact: Assad on French TV
PARIS (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has told French television the intelligence services of his country are in contact with their counterparts in France, which has severed diplomatic ties with Assad and insists he must leave power.
U.S. pair accused in Bali suitcase murder may hear verdicts Tuesday
JAKARTA (Reuters) – An Indonesian court is expected to deliver its verdicts on Tuesday on a U.S. couple accused in connection with the gruesome murder of an American woman whose body was stuffed into a suitcase on the resort island of Bali.
Truce tenuous as Ukraine leader tackles economy, oligarchs
KIEV (Reuters) – President Petro Poroshenko is using the breathing space from a ceasefire with separatists to push reforms and rein in super-rich ‘oligarchs’ whose influence he says must be curbed for Ukraine to have a future in Europe.
Japan’s Abe says ready to meet China’s Xi at Jakarta conference
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that he was ready to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an Asian-African summit in Jakarta this week if the chance arises.
Erdogan divides Turkish women with approach to tackling violence
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – When 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan was stabbed and beaten to death after trying to fight off a man bent on raping her on a minibus, Turkey’s president called violence against women the country’s “bleeding wound”.
Russia defends visit to Norwegian island despite sanctions
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Monday its deputy prime minister had every right to visit a Norwegian island despite travel restrictions imposed on him over Ukraine, dismissing Oslo’s condemnation of the trip.
Draft security law raises concerns about rights in new Tunisia
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisian political parties and unions have criticized a draft security law draft, saying it could harm freedom of expression and other rights in Tunisia four years after an uprising that ushered in democracy.
Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn leaders snub court as criminal trial begins
KORYDALLOS, Greece (Reuters) – The leaders of Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party refused to show up at court on Monday at the start of a landmark trial in which the elected politicians are accused of forming a criminal gang.
Taliban kill three police, kidnap 19 de-miners in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Taliban militants attacked a police station in southern Afghanistan, killing three officers, and abducted 19 people working for a land mine clearance project in the country’s east, officials said on Monday.
