Netanyahu wants to define Israel as Jewish state in law
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he would seek a new law declaring Israel a Jewish state, striking back against a Palestinian refusal to recognize that status in now-collapsed peace talks.
Politics, markets complicate Rouhani’s rescue of Iran economy
DUBAI (Reuters) – A sharp drop in the rial currency reveals heavy pressure on Iran’s economy as President Hassan Rouhani struggles to deliver higher living standards and shore up domestic political support for a nuclear deal with world powers.
Dutch police storm Greenpeace ship trying to block Arctic oil delivery
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) – Dutch police stormed a Greenpeace ship on Thursday to prevent environmental activists blocking delivery of the first oil from Russia’s new Arctic drilling platform reaching port in Rotterdam.
Russia stages first Red Square May Day parade since Soviet days
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia staged a huge May Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square for the first time since the Soviet era on Thursday, with workers holding banners proclaiming support for President Vladimir Putin after the seizure of territory from neighbo…
Blasts in train at India’s Chennai kill passenger, alert issued
CHENNAI, India (Reuters) – Two bombs went off on a train in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Thursday, killing a woman and wounding nine people, officials said, prompting a security alert in the middle of a mammoth election.
Iran to buy 400 airliners if sanctions lifted, top official says
ANKARA (Reuters) – Barred by sanctions from buying Western airliners since the 1970s, Iran has pent-up demand for 400 new planes, Tehran’s top aviation official was reported as saying, offering potential billions to manufacturers such as Airbus and Boe…
China blames religious extremists for station bombing
URUMQI, China (Reuters) – An attack at a train station in China’s western city of Urumqi was carried out by two religious extremists, who both died in the blast, the government said on Thursday.
Ukraine’s restive east slipping from government’s grasp
HORLIVKA, Ukraine (Reuters) – Pro-Moscow separatists seized government offices in more Ukrainian towns on Wednesday, in a further sign that authorities in Kiev are losing control of the country’s eastern industrial heartland bordering Russia.
Islamist group condemns Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood death sentences
DUBAI (Reuters) – An association of Muslim scholars led by influential Qatar-based cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi has condemned death sentences passed by an Egyptian court against 683 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood as an act of revenge against politi…
Japan to conduct island defense drill amid tension with China
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will conduct a military exercise this month to practice defending an island, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday, underscoring concern about East China Sea islands controlled by Japan but claimed by China.
