World briefs 12/14/15

Saudi voters elect 20 female candidates

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi voters elected 20 women to local government seats, according to results released Sunday, a day after women voted and ran in elections for the first time in the country's history. The women who won hail from vastly different parts of the country, ranging from Saudi Arabia's largest city to a small village near Islam's holiest site. The 20 female candidates represent 1 percent of the 2,100 municipal council seats up for grabs, but even limited gains are seen as a step forward for women who had been completely shut out of elections. Women still are not allowed to drive and are governed by guardianship laws that give men final say over aspects of their lives such as marriage, travel and higher education.

French far right collapses in runoff

PARIS -- Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front collapsed in French regional elections Sunday, failing to take one region after dominating the first round of voting, pollsters projected. Conservatives surged against the governing Socialists, changing the political map of France. The failure of the National Front to gain any of the six regions where it was leading didn't stop the anti-immigration party from looking to the 2017 presidential election -- Le Pen's ultimate goal. Le Pen had been riding high after extremist attacks and an unprecedented wave of migration into Europe, and the party came out on top in the voting in France's 13 newly drawn regions in the first round a week ago. But projections by France's major polling firms suggested the party lost in all the regions Sunday.

Mental-illness home fire kills 23 patients

MOSCOW -- A fire swept through a Russian home for people with mental illnesses, killing 23 patients and injuring another 23, many of whom were on medication or otherwise unable to walk, emergency agencies said Sunday. The remaining 24 patients were evacuated, including some who had to be carried out of the building, and the four medical personnel working at the home were unhurt, they said. The fire raised concern in Russia because it followed two similar fires in 2013 that killed 75 people. After those fires, the government had promised to improve fire safety at institutions for psychiatric patients.

Palestinian shooting prompts probe

JERUSALEM -- Israeli authorities on Sunday said they have opened an investigation into the actions of a police officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old Palestinian girl during a stabbing attack in Jerusalem last month. In a statement, the Justice Ministry said it was looking into whether the officer used excessive force while stopping a stabbing attack by two teenage Palestinian girls. In the Nov. 23 incident, the 16-year-old girl, along with a 14-year-old accomplice, stabbed and wounded a 70-year-old man with scissors before they were shot by the officer. The ministry said the attorney general had requested the investigation into claims the officer shot the 16-year-old girl after she already had been restrained. During questioning, the officer said he believed the girl still posed a threat, the statement said.

-- From wire reports