With eye on China, Japan defense planners seek spending boost
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s defense planners are seeking their biggest budget ever for the coming fiscal year to pay for stealth fighters, drones and a hi-tech submarine, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bolsters the military amid an intensifying rivalry wit…
Israel police find body of missing U.S. student
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli police said on Thursday they had found the body of a 23-year-old American student who went missing last week near a forest in Jerusalem and that they did not suspect a criminal motive.
U.S., China plan followup to Sunnylands summit in November
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, at odds over China’s increasing assertiveness in Asia and issues such as cyberspying, plan a followup to their informal summit in California last year after November’s…
Mali rebel factions agree to end hostilities ahead of Sept talks
OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) – Representatives of two platforms of rebel groups from northern Mali agreed on Thursday in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou to end hostilities and present a united front for talks with the Malian government in Algeria in early S…
Turkey’s Erdogan sworn in as president, consolidates power
ANKARA (Reuters) – Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in as Turkey’s president on Thursday, cementing his position as its most powerful leader of recent times, in a step opponents fear heralds more authoritarian rule and widening religious influence in public li…
Video shows Islamic State executes scores of Syrian soldiers
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State fighters executed scores of Syrian soldiers captures when the militants seized an airbase in the province of Raqqa at the weekend, according to a video posted on You Tube on Thursday.
Ukraine president accuses Russian soldiers of backing rebel thrust
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s president said on Thursday that Russian troops had entered his country in support of pro-Moscow rebels who captured a key coastal town, sharply escalating a separatist war and prompting anger and alarm among Kiev’s Western al…
Exclusive: U.S. may use secrets act to stop suit against Iran sanctions group
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. government is considering using a powerful national security law to halt a private lawsuit against a non-profit group, United Against A Nuclear Iran, according to a source familiar with the case.
Spliced Lula video annoys ruling party in Brazil election
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s ruling party has asked Google Inc to pull a spliced campaign video from YouTube that gives viewers the impression its leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is backing opposition presidential candidate Marina Silva.
Libya’s government resigns to allow parliament to form new cabinet
BENGHAZI Libya (Reuters) – Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni and his cabinet resigned on Thursday to pave the way to forming a new government after parliamentary elections in June, a government statement said. The North African oil producer is at risk …
