Low voter turnout could erode Japan PM Abe’s call for fresh mandate
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese voters, puzzled as to why Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is calling an election now and unimpressed by opposition alternatives, may shun a Dec. 14 election in record numbers.
Iraqi forces say retake two towns from Islamic State
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces said on Sunday they retook two towns north of Baghdad from Islamic State fighters, driving them from strongholds they had held for months and clearing a main road from the capital to Iran.
Iran and powers set to extend nuclear talks if final push fails
VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers looked set to miss Monday’s deadline for resolving a 12-year stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and are already looking at a possible extension of the negotiations.
Landmark Tunisian presidential election seen heading for run-off
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisians voted on Sunday to pick their first directly elected president, with the two major parties expecting a run-off as the final step in the North African state’s transition to full democracy following a 2011 revolution that oust…
Portugal ex-PM Socrates still in custody, more questioning Monday
LISBON (Reuters) – Police transferred Portugal’s former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates back to his cell at a police station late on Sunday where he will spend a third night in a row after his shocking arrest and questioning in a corruption inve…
Multi-national crew blasts off for space station
A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan on Sunday to deliver three new crew members to the International Space Station, including Italy’s first female astronaut.
France’s Hollande made left-wing voters feel betrayed: ex-partner
LONDON (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande suffers record low popularity because he has failed to deliver promised reforms and left left-wing voters feeling betrayed, his ex-partner Valerie Trierweiler said on Sunday.
Kenya says kills militants after bus ambush that killed 28
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan security forces have pursued and killed more than 100 militants and destroyed their camp in Somalia after the ambush of a Nairobi-bound bus that killed 28 people, Deputy President William Ruto said on Sunday.
Suicide bomber kills 45 at volleyball match in Afghanistan
GARDEZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest in a crowd of spectators at a volleyball match in Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 45 people, a provincial official said, as foreign troops withdraw from the country after more…
No easy ‘plan B’ for Iran if nuclear talks with major powers collapse
VIENNA (Reuters) – Iranian officials say they can turn to Beijing and Moscow if talks in Vienna fail to end Western sanctions, but with oil prices falling, China’s economy slowing and Russia in its own sanctions-induced slump, Tehran’s “plan B” hardly …
