Brazil top court ruling could free Lula, derail graft fight
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – A decision looming before Brazil’s Supreme Court could free imprisoned former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva within days and deal the harshest blow yet to the South American country’s battle against corruption, prosecutors an…
Inspectors push to visit suspected Syria gas attack site after Western strikes
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – International inspectors were to try on Monday to visit the site of a suspected gas attack which brought U.S.-led missile strikes on Syria and heightened the diplomatic confrontation between the West and Assad’s main ally Russia.
Families of Chinese activists face house arrest, harassment from ‘smiling tigers’
BEIJING (Reuters) – When a team of Chinese state security agents picked up Li Wenzu and then prevented her from leaving her own home last week, she was scared but not surprised.
Korean Air ‘nut rage’ sister suspended from duties after angry outburst
SEOUL (Reuters) – Korean Air suspended the youngest daughter of its chairman, a sister of the infamous “nut rage” heiress, from her duties on Monday pending a police investigation of complaints she threw a cup of water at someone.
EU cool to U.S. plan for new Russia sanctions over Syria
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – European Union foreign ministers looked unlikely to join the United States on Monday in imposing new economic sanctions on Russia or Syria over chemical weapons attacks that prompted the first coordinated Western air strikes in S…
Rise in kidnappings shakes faith in Uganda’s police
LUWERO, Uganda (Reuters) – In a small Ugandan town in February, Juma Nsereko took a panicked call from his wife: their five-year-old twin girls were missing and the mother suspected their neighbor, a jobless man, had kidnapped them.
Russia may have tampered with chemical attack site, U.S. envoy says
THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Russia may have tampered with the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria’s Douma, the U.S. envoy to the global watchdog said on Monday, urging the body to condemn the continuing use of banned chemical weapons.
Japan PM Abe’s woes deepen as ratings drop, predecessor predicts resignation
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s political crisis deepened on Monday after polls showed that suspected cronyism scandals have pushed his support to record lows and a popular predecessor said Abe would probably resign in June.
Turkey says not siding with anyone on Syria, policy different from Iran, Russia, U.S.
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey does not stand with or against any country on Syria and its policy in the region is different from that of Iran, Russia and the United States, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Monday.
Merkel’s conservatives seek to limit her room on euro zone reform
BERLIN (Reuters) – Members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc in parliament are seeking to limit her room for maneuver on euro zone reform, a draft proposal seen ahead of her meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday showed…
