Macron cements bid for French presidency after bitter TV debate

PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - Independent centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron appeared to cement his position as favorite for the French presidency on Thursday as the dust settled on a rancorous final televised debate with far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

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Tillerson meets ASEAN ministers to seek support on North Korea

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Thursday to seek their support in pressing North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programs.

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U.S. military to pitch revised Afghan war plan to Trump in next week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Thursday it will offer recommendations on the war in Afghanistan to President Donald Trump within the next week, amid expectations of a request for thousands of more troops to break a stalemate with Taliban insurgents.

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Trump to wade into Middle East politics on first foreign trip

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel this month as part of his first foreign trip, wading directly into the tangled diplomacy of Middle Eastern politics, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

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Germany: Kremlin to decide whether to use hacked data to influence election

BERLIN (Reuters) - The head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency said it would ultimately be up the Kremlin to decide whether data gleaned from cyber attacks directed at German lawmakers and political parties would be used to try to affect the Sept. 24 national election.

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UK's Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's husband, to retire from royal duties

LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Philip, the 95-year-old husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, will retire from carrying out royal engagements from the autumn, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday, ending more than six decades of active public life.

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Venezuela death toll rises as foes protest Maduro's power shakeup

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan security forces battled protesters who lit fires and hurled stones on Wednesday in rage at President Nicolas Maduro's decree to create an alternative congress, with another fatality taking the death toll to 34 during a month of unrest.

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