Juppe joins race for French presidency in challenge to Sarkozy
PARIS (Reuters) – Former prime minister Alain Juppe joined the race to be the presidential candidate of France’s centre-right on Wednesday, posing a potential challenge both to a 2017 comeback bid by Nicolas Sarkozy and to the rise of the extreme right…
Landslides hit Japan’s Hiroshima, killing at least 36
HIROSHIMA (Reuters) – At least 36 people, including several children, were killed in Japan on Wednesday, when landslides triggered by torrential rain slammed into the outskirts of the western city of Hiroshima, and the toll could rise further, police s…
Austria detains nine suspected of wanting to join militants in Syria
VIENNA (Reuters) – Nine people suspected of intending to join Islamic militants fighting the government in Syria have been arrested in Austria, Vienna prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Indian hunger striker freed after 14 years as suicide charges dropped
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – An Indian human rights activist who has been on hunger strike for the last 14 years in protest against alleged army atrocities walked free on Wednesday from a prison hospital where doctors had force-fed her to keep her alive.
Chinese police arrest three for deadly auto parts factory blast
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese police have arrested three people in connection with an explosion at an auto parts plant that killed 75 people in China’s worst industrial accident in a year, state media said on Wednesday.
Three more Tibetans die from shooting by Chinese police: rights group
BEIJING (Reuters) – Three protesters shot last week by police in a Tibetan region of China have died of their injuries, taking to five the number of people killed in the incident, a rights group said on Wednesday.
Four beheaded corpses found in Egypt’s Sinai: security sources
CAIRO (Reuters) – Four beheaded corpses were found by residents of a town in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, security sources said, blaming Islamist militants waging an insurgency against Cairo.
Afghanistan gives NYT reporter 24 hours to leave country
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan has given a New York Times reporter 24 hours to leave the country, accusing him of not cooperating with an investigation into his reporting, the Attorney General’s office said on Wednesday.
Turkish soldier killed in clashes with Kurdish militants
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – At least one Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded in clashes with Kurdish militants in eastern Turkey as tensions escalated, local media reported, potentially undermining government efforts toward direct peace talks.
U.S. official says unified with Japan on need for Russian sanctions
TOKYO (Reuters) – A senior U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday that the U.S. and Japanese governments are completely unified that sanctions are needed on Russia to encourage it to stop taking steps that the United States says are destabilizing Ukr…
