Brazil Supreme Court rejects Rousseff government bid to delay accounts ruling
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Supreme Court rejected on Wednesday an injunction filed by President Dilma Rousseff’s government seeking to delay a federal audit court ruling on her administration’s 2014 accounts.
Merkel, Hollande plead for unity in face of EU crises
STRASBOURG (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, in a rare joint address to the EU parliament, called for unity in Europe on Wednesday to tackle a series of crises that have shaken the bloc to its core.
Private palaces: Russia moves to hide property data
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian officials lampooned by anti-corruption activists for living in opulent mansions are moving to cover their tracks by limiting access to public data about property ownership.
U.S.-led coalition aircraft re-routed to avoid Russians: Pentagon
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S.-led coalition aircraft bombing Islamist militants in Syria were re-routed at least once in the last six days to avoid a close encounter with Russian planes, a Pentagon spokesman said on Wednesday.
Ukraine says four soldiers wounded in rebel attack despite truce
KIEV (Reuters) – The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday pro-Russian separatists had violated a ceasefire in the east of the country by firing an anti-tank missile and wounding four soldiers, even as President Petro Poroshenko hailed a “real truce”.
Putin marks 63rd birthday with ice hockey match, Syria war briefing
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin marked his 63rd birthday on Wednesday in his favorite Black Sea resort of Sochi by taking part in an ice hockey match and holding a briefing on his country’s military campaign in Syria.
U.N. chief hails U.S. plan to release thousands of prisoners
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations secretary-general welcomed on Wednesday a U.S. decision to release some 6,000 federal prisoners to ease overcrowding and provide redress for people who had received disproportionately long sentences for non…
EU to step up deportations of economic migrants
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union states will step up efforts to repatriate thousands of migrants fleeing poverty rather than war by speeding up deportations and exerting pressure on their home countries to take them back, an EU document says.
Rights watchdog says second young Shi’ite faces beheading in Saudi
DUBAI (Reuters) – International rights group Reprieve said on Tuesday that a second young Shi’ite man who was 17-years-old and a minor when he was arrested in 2012 faces execution by beheading in Saudi Arabia.
Kurds say blood tests show Islamic State used mustard gas in Iraq
ERBIL (Reuters) – Islamic State fighters fired mortar rounds containing mustard agent at Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq during clashes in August, the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, which oversees Kurdish armed forces there, said on Wednesd…
