Mexico congratulates Bolivia’s Morales on election ‘victory’
Mexico quickly offered congratulations to Bolivian President Evo Morales on his re-election “victory” on Thursday, following a disputed race in which the opposition has alleged fraud and Morales accused rivals of staging a “coup.”
Samsung heir appears at court for his bribery trial
Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee appeared at a Seoul courtroom on Friday for the start of a bribery trial that could result in a tougher sentence after South Korea’s top court ordered a review of his graft case.
Mexican president rebukes U.S. official’s criticism of narco strategy
Mexico’s president on Thursday accused a senior U.S. diplomat of lacking respect for Mexican sovereignty after he questioned the Mexican government’s strategy for quelling drug cartel violence.
Japan trade minister resigns amid melon donations scandal
Japanese Trade Minister Isshu Sugawara resigned on Friday, following accusations of election law violations just a month after taking up the key post charged with handling a trade dispute with neighboring South Korea.
Final vote count in Bolivian election gives Morales outright win
A final vote tally by Bolivia’s electoral board gave President Evo Morales an outright win in the first-round election on Thursday, with 47.07% of ballots compared to 36.51% for runner-up Carlos Mesa, data on the board’s website showed.
Eyeing oilfields, U.S. aims to reinforce position in Syria: official
The United States is committed to reinforcing its military position in Syria with additional assets to prevent oilfields from being taken over by remnants of the Islamic State militant group or others, a U.S. defense official said on Thursday.
Chinese embassy: British police not yet able to confirm people found dead in truck are Chinese
The Chinese embassy in London said British police have not yet been able to confirm that the 39 people found dead in the back of truck were Chinese nationals.
Solomons government says China’s island lease ‘unlawful’
The Solomon Islands government says a contract signed by one of its provinces to lease the entire island of Tulagi to a Chinese company is unlawful and should be terminated.
Japan trade minister Sugawara resigns amid scandal: media
Japanese Trade Minister Isshu Sugawara has submitted his resignation following an allegation of a possible election law violation, local media reported on Friday.
Tourists line up to scale Australia’s Uluru hours ahead of climb ban
Hundreds of tourists formed long queues to climb Australia’s Uluru soon after dawn on Friday, the day before a permanent ban on the climb takes effect following a decades-long fight by indigenous people to close the trek.
