Typhoon strikes Philippines; 750,000 evacuated to safety

Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the central Philippines on Monday as a typhoon with winds of up to 150 km/h made landfall, dumping heavy rain that could cause flooding, landslides and storm surges, authorities warned.

20 women elected to local government in historic step toward gender equality

Saudi voters elected 20 women for local government seats, according to results released to The Associated Press on Sunday, a day after women voted and ran in elections for the first time in the country's history.

Seoul has no plans for new negotiations with Pyongyang

The Republic of Korea said on Monday that it had no plans to propose a fresh dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after rare high-level talks over the weekend fizzled out with no agreement.

IN BRIEF (Page 11)

West's makers of arms see share fall

Arms manufacturers in North America and Western Europe dominated international arms sales in 2014, but their market share dropped while Russian and Asian companies saw theirs rise, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported on Monday.

Far-right party fails to win a single region

Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front did not win any region in French elections on Sunday, in a setback to her hopes of becoming a serious presidential contender in 2017.

Blankets cover glacier in effort to halt melt

From afar, the Rhone Glacier looks pristine, but on closer inspection the surface is covered with white blankets to slow the melting of the rapidly retreating ice.

Thousands in holiday costumes revel at SantaCon

Santas arrived by the thousands and oversized elves cavorted with saucy Mrs Clauses as a police helicopter circled overhead. Welcome to SantaCon, the annual Christmastime parade-meets-pub-crawl that was hoping this year would persuade New York it's more nice than naughty.

Japan to build India's first high-speed train

Japan will provide $12 billion of soft loans to build India's first bullet train, the two nations announced during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that also yielded deeper defense ties and a plan for civil nuclear cooperation.

Suu Kyi's party literally cleans up

Aung San Suu Kyi took to the streets of Myanmar on Sunday to pick up trash, a rare public appearance since her election triumph, in a move aimed at highlighting her party's commitment to public service.

Woman wins council seat in historic polls

A Saudi woman won a municipal council seat in the country's first ever election open to female voters and candidates, an official said Sunday, in a milestone result for the kingdom.

Far right faces test in regional election

Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front was the front-runner heading into the decisive second round of French regional elections on Sunday, and now it's up to voters whether to hand the party an unprecedented political victory.