Reuters World News Summary

08/24/2016 8:59

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Thai junta rules out link between latest bombs and tourist-town attacks

Thailand's military government said on Wednesday there was no connection between two bombings overnight that killed one person in the southern town of Pattani and a wave of deadly attacks on tourist spots this month. One Thai person was killed and 30 wounded when two bombs exploded late on Tuesday at a hotel in the deep-south town of Pattani, less than two weeks after a wave of bombings hit towns in seven provinces in the central south.

North Korea fires submarine-launched ballistic missile towards Japan

North Korea fired a submarine-launched missile on Wednesday that flew about 500 km (311 miles) towards Japan, a show of improving technological capability for the isolated country that has conducted a series of launches in defiance of UN sanctions. Having the ability to fire a missile from a submarine could help North Korea evade a new anti-missile system planned for South Korea and pose a threat even if nuclear-armed North Korea's land-based arsenal was destroyed, experts said.

Philippines says sea dispute not led to shift in ties with China or U.S.

The Philippines' territorial dispute with China over the South China Sea has not caused Manila to rebalance diplomatic ties with either its ally, the United States, or neighboring China, Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay said on Wednesday. An arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July by ruling that China had no historical title over the South China Sea and that it had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights with various actions there.

To deter refugees, Norway readies fence on ex-Cold War border

Norway is putting up a steel fence at a remote Arctic border post with Russia after an influx of migrants last year, sparking an outcry from refugees' rights groups and fears that cross- border ties with the former Cold War adversary will be harmed. The government says a new gate and a fence, about 200 meters (660 feet) long and 3.5 meters high stretching from the Storskog border point, is needed to tighten security at a northern outpost of Europe's passport-free Schengen zone.

Germany's anti-immigration AfD party gaining allegiance

The three-year-old anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party has established a solid base among those Germans who demonstrate a political allegiance, a study showed on Wednesday. The study by the German Institute for Economic Research and Humboldt University reinforces expectations that the anti-immigration party will make a strong showing in state elections next month in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the east.

In a Powerpoint, Philippine police detail body count in drug war

A Philippine police report on an anti-drugs campaign that has killed 1,900 people in seven weeks shows an openness and even pride in an escalating body count that has horrified rights activists and unsettled allies such as the United States. The bloody campaign, launched when President Rodrigo Duterte took office, has reduced crime and won public support, said the report presented to a Senate hearing in Manila on Tuesday.

India investigates damage caused by French submarine data leak

India is investigating the extent to which secrets about French Scorpene submarines being built in the country have been compromised, its defense ministry said on Wednesday, after a leak of documents relating to its combat capabilities. The leak, which was first reported in The Australian newspaper, contains more than 22,000 pages outlining the secret capabilities of six submarines that French builder DCNS has designed for the Indian Navy.

Turkey's Erdogan says U.S. has 'no excuse' to keep coup suspect Gulen

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said he would tell U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that Washington has "no excuse" for not handing over the Pennsylvania-based cleric blamed for last month's failed coup. Erdogan, who is due to meet with Biden in Ankara later on Wednesday, said Turkey would continue to provide U.S. officials with documents to demand the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999.

Turkish tanks, special forces launch first major push into Syria to battle IS

Turkish special forces, tanks and jets backed by planes from the U.S.-led coalition launched their first co-ordinated offensive into Syria on Wednesday to try to drive Islamic State from the border and prevent further gains by Kurdish militia fighters. A column of at least nine Turkish tanks crossed into northern Syria with Turkish-backed Syrian rebels to push Islamic State out of the border town of Jarablus, military sources said. A Reuters reporter at the border witnessed intense bombardments, with palls of black smoke rising around the town.

'Voices under the rubble' after quake hits Italy; at least 38 dead

A powerful earthquake devastated a string of mountainous towns in central Italy on Wednesday, trapping residents under piles of rubble, killing at least 38 people and leaving thousands homeless. The quake struck in the early hours of the morning when most residents were asleep, razing homes and buckling roads in a cluster of communities some 140 km (85 miles) east of Rome.

08/24/2016 8:59