Lebanese army battles gunmen at Syria border, 16 killed
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Lebanese army battled Islamist fighters near the Syrian border on Saturday, killing 11 militants, a security official said, in a move against al Qaeda-linked gunmen who earlier had seized a police station and killed two soldiers….
New Libyan parliament meets far from urban battlegrounds
TOBRUK Libya (Reuters) – Libya’s newly elected House of Representatives held its first session on Saturday, holed up in a heavily guarded provincial hotel as armed factions turned the two biggest cities, Tripoli and Benghazi, into battlefields.
French police arrest Islamist militant at a Paris airport
PARIS (Reuters) – French police on Friday arrested a Franco-Moroccan man they described as an Islamist militant at Roissy international airport on suspicion that he was part of a conspiracy to carry out attacks in France.
Ukrainian forces advance in east as Russia, West squabble
KIEV/DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) – Government forces tightened the noose around the main stronghold of pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine on Saturday and, with diplomacy stalled, Moscow and the West stepped up their war of words.
Sunni insurgents, Kurds battle over north Iraq town
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Islamic State militants fought Kurdish forces on Saturday for the northern Iraqi town of Zumar located near an oil field and the Syrian border amid conflicting reports of who was in control.
U.N. says Sri Lanka illegally returning Pakistani asylum seekers
GENEVA/COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka must stop deporting Pakistani asylum seekers, a practice banned under international law, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Saturday.
India evacuates thousands as Nepal landslide sparks flood fears
PATNAIndia/KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Authorities in eastern India began evacuating thousands of villagers on Saturday after efforts to clear a deadly landslide in neighboring Nepal sparked fears of flash floods downstream, government officials said.
Historic energy overhaul advances in Mexican Congress
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s lower house of Congress passed early on Saturday the last package of bills needed to implement a landmark energy reform, moving the reform one step closer to final approval.
Factory blast in eastern China kills at least 69
KUNSHAN China (Reuters) – China suffered its worst industrial accident in a year on Saturday when an explosion killed at least 69 people and injured more than 120 at a factory that makes wheels for U.S. carmakers, including General Motors.
Abe says time for ‘new chapter’ in Japan, Latin America relations
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Saturday that his country needs to look more towards Latin America to take better advantage of increasing trade flows.
