Corruption scandals weigh on Ecuador’s leftists ahead of vote
GUAYAQUIL/QUITO (Reuters) – A former oil minister’s accusations that Ecuador’s leftist government is involved in graft at state-run Petroecuador is raising the ire of voters as the ruling party seeks to extend its 10-year hold on power in a presidentia…
Two thirds of French voters wish Fillon drops his candidacy: Ifop poll
PARIS (Reuters) – About two-thirds of French voters wish that conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon withdraws his bid after allegations his wife was paid for a fake job, according to an Ifop poll for Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
‘Blind sheikh’ convicted in 1993 World Trade bombing dies in U.S. prison
(Reuters) – Omar Abdel-Rahman, the Muslim cleric known as “the blind sheikh” who was convicted of conspiracy in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and of planning a broader “war of urban terrorism” in the United States, died on Saturday in a North Car…
‘Venezuela is not a democracy’ Argentina’s Macri tells Spanish media
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri used some of his harshest language yet against Venezuela’s socialist government in comments to Spanish media published on Saturday ahead of his trip to Madrid.
Two top officials in South Sudan’s military courts resign, rebuke government
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Two top officials overseeing South Sudan’s military courts have resigned, saying high-level interference made it impossible to discipline soldiers accused of rape and murder amid the nation’s civil war, according to letters seen by …
Washington PR offensive fails to quell Europe’s anxiety over Trump
MUNICH (Reuters) – One month into the unusual presidency of Donald Trump, his most senior cabinet members were deployed to Brussels, Bonn and Munich this week to reassure nervous Europeans that everything would be okay.
Syrian forces attack rebel-held areas of Homs, Deraa, Damacus: monitors
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian warplanes bombarded a besieged rebel-held district of Homs, southern Deraa and insurgent areas in Damascus’s outskirts on Saturday in what appeared to be intensifying assaults in the west of the country, monitors said.
France’s Macron seeks to end controversy over Algeria comments
TOULON, France (Reuters) – French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron attempted on Saturday to end the controversy triggered by his comments condemning France’s colonial past in Algeria.
Syrian government forces attack rebel areas on Damascus outskirts: Syrian Observatory
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian government forces attacked rebel-held areas on the northeastern outskirts of Damascus with rockets and shellfire on Saturday and killed at least nine people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
Russia wants pragmatic relations with U.S., says Lavrov
MUNICH (Reuters) – Russia wants to build pragmatic relations with the United States based on mutual respect, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.
