IN BRIEF

France

Govt investigates campaign hacking

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the leak of large quantities of hacked data from Emmanuel Macron's campaign two days before Sunday's presidential election, which the centrist won, a judicial source said on Tuesday. Macron's team said a "massive" hack had dumped emails, documents and campaign financing information online just before campaigning ended on Friday and France entered a quiet period which forbade politicians from commenting on the leak.

United States

Pentagon set to arm Syrian Kurds

President Donald Trump has approved a plan to arm Syrian Kurds, a key force in the fight against the Islamic State group, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The approval for the plan came despite strong objections of the Turkish government, which views the Kurdish fighters as terrorists.

The Philippines

Duterte names new foreign secretary

President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Wednesday the appointment of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as the country's new foreign secretary. Cayetano, 46, a politician and a staunch ally of the president, was Duterte's running mate in the May 2016 elections. On March 9, Duterte named Enrique Manalo, a seasoned career diplomat, as acting foreign secretary, barely a day after the Commission on Appointments rejected the appointment of Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay over citizenship issue.

Mexico

Fireworks cache explodes; 14 killed

An errant firecracker landed on a cache of fireworks and touched off a powerful explosion at a home in central Mexico, killing 11 children and three adults, authorities said on Tuesday. National Civil Protection Coordinator Luis Felipe Puente said 25 others were injured in Monday night's blast in the town of San Isidro, in Chilchotla municipality. He added that most of the fatalities came from just two families.

World's heaviest man goes under the knife

The world's heaviest man, who at one point weighed almost 600 kilograms, has undergone successful gastric bypass surgery, his doctors in Mexico said. The procedure on Juan Pedro Franco is intended to reduce his weight by half, and is expected to be followed up with another operation, his surgeon Jose Castaneda said Tuesday. Mexico's Manuel Uribe, who in 2007 held the record for being the world's heaviest man at 597 kg, died last year.

India

Sacked minister begins hunger strike

A sacked Delhi minister began a hunger strike on Wednesday, demanding that the anti-graft Aam Aadmi Party, led by the capital's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, reveal the details of foreign trips made by five of its top leaders. Calling his hunger strike a "peaceful protest", Kapil Mishra, who was removed by Kejriwal as Delhi's Water Resources Minister on Saturday, said: "I will be fasting till the party shares details of the foreign travel of five leaders in the last two years. It is just a small thing."