Reuters World News Summary

German spies curb Internet snooping for U.S. after row: media

Germany has halted its Internet surveillance for the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in response to a row over the BND intelligence agency's cooperation with Washington, German media reported on Thursday. Allegations that the BND has helped the NSA spy on European officials and firms has put strains on Angela Merkel's governing coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) and could damage U.S. relations and even the conservative chancellor's own popularity.

Saudi Arabia says considering five-day Yemen truce

Saudi Arabia proposed a five-day humanitarian truce in Yemen on Thursday after weeks of air strikes and fighting, but said a ceasefire depended on the Houthi militia and its allies also agreeing to lay down arms, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, addressing a news conference alongside Jubeir in Riyadh, welcomed the proposal and added that neither Saudi Arabia nor the United States was talking about sending ground troops into Yemen.

Greece says sticking to 'red lines', wants concessions from lenders

Greece's government is sticking to its non-negotiable "red lines" on labor and pension issues and expects its EU and IMF creditors also to make concessions to reach a deal, the government spokesman said on Thursday. Greece's new leftist government has said further cuts to pension payments and reforms making it easier to fire workers in the private sector are among "red lines" it will no cross.

More than 50 Thai police punished over human trafficking links

More than 50 Thai police officers have been punished over suspected links to human trafficking networks, the country's police chief said on Thursday, after the prime minister ordered a probe into the discovery of trafficking camps near the Malaysian border. Thirty-three bodies, believed to be migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have been found in shallow graves over the past week in the southern province of Songkhla. Some of the bodies were found at a suspected human trafficking camp hidden deep in the jungle.

China warns Philippine military planes away from disputed sea area: Manila

China has warned Philippine air force and navy planes at least six times to leave areas around the disputed South China Sea, the Philippine military commander responsible for the region told a Senate hearing on Thursday. While Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez gave no timeframe, a senior Philippine air force official told Reuters the warnings had come in the past three months.

United Kingdom votes in most unpredictable election in decades

British voters get to decide on Thursday who they want to rule the world's fifth-largest economy in a tight election that could yield weak government, propel the United Kingdom towards a vote on EU membership and stoke Scottish desire for secession. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives and Ed Miliband's opposition Labour Party have been neck and neck in opinion polls for months, indicating neither will win enough seats for an outright majority in the 650-seat parliament.

Israel's Netanyahu faces uneasy future with single-seat majority

Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to find much comfort at home or abroad in his fourth term as prime minister after taking six weeks to form a coalition that will hold a parliamentary majority of just a single seat. Long at odds with Western allies over his views on the Palestinians and Iran, Netanyahu could be similarly vexed by domestic legislation that even his right-leaning, five-party alliance will not necessarily agree on, political analysts say.

Syrian army kills dozens of rebels near Lebanon border: Manar TV

Syrian army bombing in the mountainous area along the border with Lebanon killed dozens of insurgents, Hezbollah's Manar television said on Thursday. The rebels have been attacking the Syrian army from the Qalamoun mountains and are battling fighters from Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, which has sent hundreds to fight alongside his forces.

EU asks European Safety Agency EASA to look into Germanwings report findings

The European Commission asked the European Aviation Safety Agency on Thursday to assess a report on the causes of the Germanwings jet crash in the French Alps in March and will then decide whether to update aviation safety rules. According to the preliminary findings from the report by France's BEA accident investigation agency, the Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing the jet on March 24 rehearsed the maneuver on the morning of the disaster.

North Korea official says report Kim ordered executions 'malicious slander': CNN

A North Korean official denounced a report by South Korea's spy agency that leader Kim Jong Un had ordered the execution of 15 senior officials as "malicious slander" but acknowledged that executions took place. South Korea's National Intelligence Service told a parliamentary committee last week that Kim had ordered the 15 officials, including the vice forestry minister, to be executed for challenging his authority, and said Kim used fear and intimidation to rule the country.