Politics

U.S. President Barack Obama said the downing of a Malaysian jetliner in a Ukrainian region controlled by Russian-backed separatists should be a "wake-up call for Europe and the world" in a crisis that appears to be at a turning point and warned Russia of possible tightening of sanctions.

Israel stepped up its land offensive in Gaza with artillery, tanks and gunboats on Friday and declared it could "significantly widen" an operation Palestinian officials said was killing ever greater numbers of civilians.

World leaders demanded an international investigation into the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner with 298 people on board over eastern Ukraine in a tragedy that could mark a pivotal moment in the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on some of Russia's biggest firms for the first time, striking at the heart of Vladimir Putin's powerbase by targeting companies closest to him over Moscow's failure to curb violence in Ukraine.

Thailand's military rulers have given permission to former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to travel to Europe where she is expected to attend the birthday party of her brother Thaksin, also a deposed former premier, officers said on Thursday.

A clear majority of French center-right voters want former president Nicolas Sarkozy to seek re-election in 2017 and his support has grown despite legal troubles facing him and his party, an opinion survey showed on Thursday.

Honduran officials on Wednesday called for U.S. aid to Central America to reduce violence that has fueled a surge of child migration to the United States, with the foreign minister calling for a "mini-Marshall plan" to attack the broader underlying problems.

President Barack Obama imposed the toughest U.S. sanctions yet on Russia, striking at the heart of Vladimir Putin's powerbase by targeting companies closest to him over what Washington says is Moscow's failure to curb violence in Ukraine.

A typhoon killed at least 10 people as it churned across the Philippines and shut down the capital, cutting power and prompting the evacuation of almost more than 370,000 people, rescue officials said on Wednesday.