IN BRIEF

Russia

Abe to visit Russia for Putin meeting

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Russia this week for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. The Kremlin said the talks will focus on "the state and prospects for development of Russo-Japanese cooperation in the political, trade and economic, and humanitarian spheres".

France

Leader urges French to reject Le Pen

President Francois Hollande on Monday urged people to back centrist Emmanuel Macron in a vote to choose his successor next month and reject far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose place in the runoff represented a "risk" for France. Macron and Le Pen go head-to-head on May 7 after taking the top two places in Sunday's first round.

Mexico

Radioactive material stolen; alert issued

An unknown amount of stolen radioactive material has prompted an alert in nine Mexican states. Stolen or lost of such material has on several occasions been reported, most recently last year when a container of radioactive substance used for industrial X-rays, a method of nondestructive testing, was taken along with a car.

Kenya

At least 27 killed in road accident

At least 27 people were killed on Tuesday in a grisly road accident involving an oil tanker and a commuter bus along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway. The bus was traveling to Nairobi when it collided head-on with the truck near Makindu after midnight.

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