News In Brief

Abe seeks West
rapprochement with Putin
AFP, Tokya
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, currently chair of the G7, has said he wants to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the fold to engage Moscow’s help over a litany of crises in the Middle East.Abe’s remarks, in a joint interview with Japan’s Nikkei business daily and the Financial Times published Monday, come with Washington and Moscow taking opposite sides over the years-long civil war in Syria, with the region also wracked by conflict in Yemen, a Saudi-Iran row, as well as countless other issues.

New riot in Dutch town against refugee centre
AFP, The Hague
Clashes erupted late Monday in a small Dutch town during violent protests against the planned opening of a centre for asylum seekers, Dutch media and officials said. In a repeat of scenes seen in several Dutch towns and villages since late last year amid growing tensions over record numbers of migrants, police intervened to disperse about 1,000 people who rallied in central Heesch.

Sydney police kills man with knife
AP, Sydney
Police shot dead a man armed with a knife in a Sydney police station on Tuesday, an official said.
The man was shot once by a police sergeant with 24 years of experience during a brief confrontation in the foyer of the Quakers Hill police station in northwest Sydney, Assistant Police Commissioner Denis Clifford said.
Police had yet to identify the man, who appeared to be aged in his 40s, or establish a motive for the confrontation.