Jaitley favorite to become India’s finance minister
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Arun Jaitley is the only obvious candidate for finance minister on a list of cabinet members prepared by India’s Narendra Modi, who will be sworn in as prime minister later on Monday, two sources in the ruling party said.
French PM pledges more tax cuts after far-right poll win
PARIS (Reuters) – French Prime Minister Manuel Valls promised on Monday further tax cuts for low-earning and middle-class households, saying one reason for the rise in support for the National Front in weekend EU polls was anger at years of tax rises.
Mexican rebel leader Marcos retires, says ‘no longer exists’
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Subcommandante Marcos, who led an indigenous uprising in southern Mexico and became one of Latin America’s most iconic revolutionaries, on Sunday said he was stepping down as spokesman for the Zapatista rebels and would disappea…
Wives of jailed opposition mayors win Venezuela ballots
CARACAS (Reuters) – The wives of two opposition mayors jailed over protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won landslide victories in elections on Sunday for their spouses’ vacant posts.
China busts 23 ‘terror, religious extremism’ groups: Xinhua
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese police in the far western region of Xinjiang have taken down 23 “terror and religious extremism groups” and caught more than 200 suspects in May, state media said, days after the region’s deadliest attack in years.
Australian senator smuggles mock-up ‘pipe bomb’ into Parliament
SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian lawmaker smuggled a replica explosive device into parliament on Monday to highlight security shortfalls created by budget cuts, in perhaps the oddest protest yet against the conservative government’s controversial cost-…
China’s Communist Party expels official of power gear maker for graft
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s ruling Communist Party has expelled a senior official of a state-run power equipment maker for taking huge bribes in violation of the law, the party’s anti-graft watchdog said on Monday.
Obama, in Afghanistan, hopeful on security pact
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) – President Barack Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan on Sunday to visit U.S. forces who are wrapping up a 13-year mission and signaled that he intends to keep a small number of troops in the country for tr…
Mali says 50 soldiers killed in Kidal fighting
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Fifty Malian soldiers died this week during a failed army attempt to seize the Tuareg separatist northern town of Kidal, the West African country’s defense minister said on Sunday.
Ukrainians back Poroshenko to find way out of crisis
KIEV (Reuters) – Petro Poroshenko, a billionaire chocolate manufacturer, claimed the Ukrainian presidency with an emphatic election victory on Sunday, taking on a fraught mission to quell pro-Russian rebels and steer his fragile nation closer to the We…
