Reuters World News Summary

08/05/2016 8:57

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Ten held as Black Lives Matter protest blocks Heathrow road

Ten people were arrested on Friday after protesters from the British arm of the "Black Lives Matter" movement blocked the main road to London's Heathrow Airport, police said. Four people were in custody while the other six were being disentangled having locked themselves together across the five-lane slip road leading to the airport, causing traffic congestion at the Europe's busiest hub.

India's Modi picks new leader to stabilize home state

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has moved to shore up support in his home state of Gujarat by choosing as its next chief minister a representative of a powerful clan that staged widespread protests last year. As expected, Modi named Nitin Patel to run the western state, that Modi led for more than a decade, after his own successor, Anandiben Patel, quit following protests over a lack of job opportunities and social discrimination.

ANC shaken to core as South African voters look beyond race

On the surface, white South African ex-farmer Athol Trollip seems an unlikely candidate for mayor of a metropolitan district named after the ANC's great liberation hero, Nelson Mandela. Yet local elections this week have shown a shift in South African society and politics, which have been dominated by race since Mandela swept to power in 1994.

Indonesia arrests six suspected of plotting Singapore 'rocket attack'

Indonesian police arrested six suspected militants on Friday who they believed to be linked to the Islamic State group and plotting a rocket attack on Singapore, authorities in Indonesia and Singapore said. Singapore said it was stepping up security in response to the plan to attack it that was being hatched on Indonesia's Batam island, which is only about 15 km (10 miles) to the south of the wealthy city-state.

Islamic State captures up to 3,000 fleeing Iraqis: UNHCR

Islamic State fighters may have captured up to 3,000 fleeing Iraqi villagers on Thursday and subsequently executed 12 of them, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said in a daily report on events in Iraq. The report followed a statement on Thursday from the Iraqi Observatory for Human rights, which said about 1,900 civilians had been captured by an estimated 100-120 Islamic State fighters, who were using people as shields against attacks by Iraqi Security Forces. Tens of civilians had been executed, and six burnt.

China sentences fourth dissident in a week for subversion

China on Friday convicted a rights activist for subversion and sentenced him to three years prison, the fourth such sentencing this week and the latest move by authorities to crackdown on activists and lawyers. Gou Hongguo, 54, an associate of the Beijing Fengrui law firm, pleaded guilty and said he would not appeal the sentence, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Gunmen kill 13 in market in India's northeast Assam state

Attackers wearing military uniforms shot dead at least 13 people and wounded 15 on Friday in a busy market area in a town in India's restive northeastern state of Assam, in an attack blamed by the authorities on a regional separatist group. The gunmen fired indiscriminately and threw hand grenades at the crowded weekly market in Kokrajhar, a town 220 km (137 miles) by road west of the state's commercial capital Guwahati, eyewitnesses said.

Turkish foreign minister says Austria is 'capital of radical racism'

Turkish Foreign Minster Mevlut Cavusoglu called Austria the "capital of radical racism" on Friday after Chancellor Christian Kern suggested ending European Union accession talks with Ankara. In an interview with broadcaster TGRT Haber, Cavusoglu said Kern's comments, spurred in part by a crackdown on suspected perpetrators of a failed coup last month, were "ugly" and that he rejected them all.

Malaysian PM says U.S. Department of Justice suit doesn't involve him

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Friday a recent lawsuit by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) does not involve him, the Malaysian government or sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad directly. Last month, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced a civil action seeking the recovery of more than $1 billion worth of assets linked to a conspiracy to launder funds taken from 1MDB.

China slams Japan minister for ducking Nanjing massacre questions

China on Friday accused Japan's new defense minister of recklessly misrepresenting history after she declined to say whether Japanese troops massacred civilians in China during World War Two. Tomomi Inada, a 57-year old lawmaker known for her revisionist views of Japan's wartime actions, took up her post on Thursday and repeatedly sidestepped questions at a briefing on whether she condemned atrocities committed by Japan.

08/05/2016 8:57