Japan’s looming benefit cuts an unspoken, unsettling election theme
TOKYO (Reuters) – Hiroko Shinohara frets about one issue Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has noticeably avoided on the campaign trail ahead of Sunday’s election: the need to cut Japan’s generous social welfare program that supports millions of people.
Venezuela president blasts ‘insolent’ sanctions vote by U.S. Senate
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday night railed against the U.S. Senate for passing a bill that would impose sanctions on government officials found to have violated protesters’ rights during demonstrations earlier this…
Tension mounts in Haiti as clock ticks on electoral impasse
MIAMI/PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – The Obama administration and the United Nations are pressuring Haiti’s government to resolve a long-festering dispute over postponed elections in the face of anti-government protests across the impoverished Caribbean co…
Ukraine accuses rebels of violating ‘Day of Silence’; Russian gas flows resume
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military accused separatists of violating an agreed “Day of Silence” in the country’s embattled east on Tuesday, an initiative that was seen as an attempt to forge a durable ceasefire paving the way to a new round of peace ta…
Governments turn up the heat on atheists: report
GENEVA (Reuters) – Amid a global decline in religious belief, some governments are stepping up efforts to portray atheists and secularists as a danger to society and even as terrorists, according to a report issued on Wednesday.
French reform bill a major test for a weakened Hollande
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Socialist government will propose on Wednesday a reform bill which is crucial for avoiding EU sanctions but risks being watered down by lawmakers angry with President Francois Hollande’s deregulation drive.
Iraq presses Hagel for more U.S. air strikes, weapons
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pressed outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday for more air strikes and weaponry to accelerate what he called the “descent” of Islamic State.
Brazil Congress passes budget bill, opens way for new minister
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Congress approved late on Tuesday a controversial budget target bill whose passage opens the way for President Dilma Rousseff’s new economic team to take office as soon as this week.
Last French hostage freed by Al Qaeda’s north African arm
PARIS/NIAMEY (Reuters) – Serge Lazarevic, a Frenchman who was kidnapped in northern Mali and was France’s last hostage abroad, has been freed after being held by al Qaeda’s North African wing for nearly three years.
Man charged with trying to take U.S. military documents to China
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A former Connecticut resident and Chinese citizen who allegedly worked on the F135 engine was charged with trying to take sensitive documents about military technology to China, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesd…
