BBC:France train shooting: Americans overpower gunman
France train shooting: Americans overpower gunman
Three people have been hurt after a heavily armed man opened fire on a train in northern France, before being overpowered by two American passengers.
The incident happened on the high-speed Thalys service near Arras, and the attacker was arrested at Arras station.
The interior minister praised the Americans, one of whom was seriously injured, as was another passenger.
The man arrested was a 26-year-old Moroccan. Anti-terrorist officers have taken over the case.
BBC:China factory data fuels slowdown fears
China factory data fuels slowdown fears
Factory activity in China shrank at its fastest pace in more than six years in August, data suggests.
The private Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) dropped to 47.1 from 47.8 in July. A figure below 50 indicates contraction.
The data triggered another sell off in Chinese shares, which ended the day down more than 4%.
The factory data is likely to compound global worries that the Chinese economy is set for a continued slowdown.
BBC:North Korea orders troops on war footing after exchanging fire with South
North Korea orders troops on war footing after exchanging fire with South
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his frontline troops to be on a war footing, after an exchange of fire with the South across their heavily fortified border, state media report.
The KCNA report said Mr Kim declared a "semi-state of war" at an emergency meeting late Thursday.
It threatened action unless Seoul ends its anti-Pyongyang border broadcasts.
The North often uses fierce rhetoric when tensions rise and it has made similar declarations before.
BBC:Doris Lessing trailed by MI5 for 20 years
Doris Lessing trailed by MI5 for 20 years
Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing was spied on by security services for more than 20 years over suspicions of her communist sympathies, newly declassified records show.
Lessing's movements were documented during her younger years by MI5 both in her homeland in Africa and in England.
It was her anti-racism stance as well and her Communist Party membership that worried MI5.
Lessing, who died in 2013 aged 94, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007.
BBC:Islamic State 'deputy' killed in air strike, US says
Islamic State 'deputy' killed in air strike, US says
A deputy leader of Islamic State (IS), Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, has been killed in a US military strike in northern Iraq, the White House says.
Hayali, also known as Hajji Mutazz, is described by US officials as the second in command of the group.
They said he was killed in an attack on his car in Mosul on Tuesday, and that his death would damage IS operations.
A number of IS leaders have been taken out by US-led air coalition strikes in both Iraq and Syria in recent months.
BBC:Schengen free movement 'may be in danger', says German minister
Schengen free movement 'may be in danger', says German minister
Germany's interior minister says he cannot rule out suspending participation in the agreement allowing passport-free travel between most European states.
Thomas de Maiziere told the BBC he supported the Schengen Agreement, but that it could be "in danger".
He also called on Britain to accept more migrants.
Germany expects to receive 800,000 asylum applications this year alone, far more than other EU states.
Reuters:China says more than 10 countries to join unprecedented WW II military parade
China says more than 10 countries to join unprecedented WW II military parade
Troops from at least 10 countries including Russia and Kazakhstan will join an unprecedented military parade in Beijing next month to commemorate China's victory over Japan during World War Two, Chinese officials said.
China is inviting foreign troops to participate in a military parade for the first time. It will also be a milestone for President Xi Jinping, who took over as Communist Party leader and military chief in late 2012.
The parade on Sept. 3 will involve about 12,000 Chinese troops and 200 aircraft, Qi Rui, deputy director of the government office organizing the parade, told reporters in Beijing on Friday.
The parade is part of a series of high-level events organized to mark Japan's defeat 70 years ago. It is unclear whether Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would attend any of the events, and Chinese officials have not said whether or not he was extended a formal invitation.
Reuters:Mexico president, finance minister cleared in ethics probe
Mexico president, finance minister cleared in ethics probe
A Mexican government auditor on Friday exonerated President Enrique Peña Nieto and his finance minister from any wrongdoing over purchases of homes from public contractors, but opposition lawmakers poured scorn over the bid to lay the scandal to rest.
Virgilio Andrade, head of the Public Administration Ministry, said the investigation showed that neither Peña Nieto nor Finance Minister Luis Videgaray had gained benefits or tried to influence officials responsible for awarding contracts to companies that sold homes to them and the president's wife.
Appointed by Peña Nieto to run the public administration ministry after an outcry over the homes, Andrade said investigators had questioned 111 officials involved in awarding 33 contracts to the companies linked to the homes.
In a news conference to announce the probe's findings, Andrade explained how Peña Nieto and Videgaray had not broken any laws and argued that the two politicians had not held public office at relevant moments in the chronology of the purchases.
Reuters:Brazil's largest party not bolting Rousseff government
Brazil's largest party not bolting Rousseff government
Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer, a key ally of embattled President Dilma Rousseff, might end his role managing her unwieldy coalition in Congress but he is not planning to leave her government, members of his party said on Friday.
"The vice president has not taken any decision on quitting the political liaison role," a spokesman for Temer told Reuters.
Valor Econômico newspaper reported on Friday that the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, which is Brazil's largest party and controls both houses of Congress, is preparing to leave Rousseff's government due to disagreements over handling an ongoing political crisis.
The newspaper said the PMDB would take a first step in that direction when Temer surrenders his tasks as Rousseff's political liaison with Congress by the end of August.
Reuters:'Putin the Polite,' chilling hero of Russian souvenirs
'Putin the Polite,' chilling hero of Russian souvenirs
He may be in charge of an economy in crisis, but if mobile phone covers and souvenir mugs are a barometer of popularity, Russian President Vladimir Putin need not fear for his political future.
In fact, Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year has given the memorabilia makers even more material to glorify a president whose image as a champion of Russian national interests in a hostile world is barely challenged in his own country.
And while plenty of the souvenirs are standard tourist kitsch playing to the action-man image Putin has cultivated since coming to power, others seem to revel, without irony, in the darker side of a former spy who has suppressed political dissent and admitted to plotting in secret to seize Crimea.
Tourists who visited the city of Kazan for this month's world swimming championships would have found Putin-face wall clocks and monster fridge magnets with the president in various heroic poses - as bare-chested action man, naval commander ("We will not abandon our own!") or historic "Volodya (Vladimir) the Brave". One recurring motif even has him cuddling a puppy.
Reuters:France, India to conclude Rafale jets deal within 10 days - source
France, India to conclude Rafale jets deal within 10 days - source
India's purchase of French Rafale fighter jets could be concluded in about 10 days, a source with knowledge of talks on the deal told Reuters on Friday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in April he had ordered 36 Rafale fighters to modernise his country's warplane fleet, though detailed terms and conditions remained to be settled.
Modi had opted to deal directly with the French government after three years of inconclusive negotiations with the plane's manufacturer, Dassault.
"Things are getting better with India," the source said. "An agreement could be seen in about 10 days."
Reuters:U.S. resumes South Korea exercises in midst of border tensions
U.S. resumes South Korea exercises in midst of border tensions
The United States resumed its annual military exercise with South Korea after a temporary halt to coordinate with Seoul over shelling across the border with North Korea, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.
"That exercise was suspended temporarily, I believe the day before yesterday, in order to allow the U.S. side to coordinate with the South Korean side on the ... exchange of artillery," David Shear, assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, said at a news briefing.
"That exercise has resumed as planned," Shear said. The military exercise, code-named Ulchi Freedom Guardian, began on Monday and is due to end next Friday.
North Korea regularly condemns the exercises as a preparation for war and on Thursday, according to Seoul, fired four artillery rounds into South Korea in apparent protest against cross-border propaganda broadcasts.
LA Times:Your tweets now show up in Google desktop search results, too
Your tweets now show up in Google desktop search results, too
Next time you perform a Google search on your desktop, keep a look out for something new: tweets.
Google quietly updated search via desktop on Friday to include relevant tweets in search results about whatever you're searching. Searching for Taylor Swift, for example, now summons a virtual carousel of tweets from the pop star, tucked underneath news links towards the top of web site results.
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