AP, Manila
Communist rebel leaders welcomed on Wednesday a possible offer from the Philippines’ presumptive president-elect of four Cabinet posts, raising the prospect of a government that includes Marxist guerrillas who have long demanded an end to the U.S. military presence and the redistribution of land.
Rodrigo Duterte, who won the May 9 presidential election by a landslide according to an unofficial count, has said he will likely offer the Communist Party of the Philippines Cabinet positions in agrarian reform, environment, social welfare and labor.
Turkey moves towards stripping MPs of immunity
BBC Online
Parliament completes first round of voting for bill that Kurdish MPs say is aimed at cracking down on them.
Turkey’s pariament has completed a first round of voting on a bill that will strip some MPs of immunity from prosecution – a move members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) say targets them.
Maldives sides with Saudis, cuts ties with Iran
AFP, Colombo
The Maldives has joined its key financial backer Saudi Arabia in cutting diplomatic ties with Iran, accusing it of undermining peace and security in the Gulf region.
The Maldives foreign ministry said policies that Iran were pursing in the Middle East were “detrimental to peace and security in the region”, without giving details.
French police protest against violence
AP, Paris
French police are taking to the streets to protest against what they describe as hatred directed at them.
Police planned to gather during their lunch breaks Wednesday in about 60 cities across France, including on the Republic Plaza in Paris, to denounce the almost daily violent clashes at protests against a labor reform in recent weeks.
Twin blasts kill Pak police officer
AP, Peshawar
A twin bombing killed a Pakistani police officer and wounded nine people in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, police said.
A roadside explosion first hit on the outskirts of the city, and the second bomb went off about half an hour later, after police and local TV crews arrived at the scene, police official Sher Khan said.
2 dead in Arizona small plane crash
AP, Mesa
Two people were killed Tuesday evening after a small World War II-era plane crashed and exploded into flames near a Phoenix-area airport, authorities said.
Emergency crews were dispatched to Falcon Field Airport about 6:45 p.m. Deputy Chief Forrest Smith of the Mesa Fire Department said two people died in the crash. Their names weren’t immediately released.
