Tired of army rule, Thai youth a rising force in March election
Standing atop the stairs outside his university auditorium, 20-year-old activist Parit Chiwarak led a protest of hundreds of people calling for an end to Thailand’s ruling military junta.
No deal, no problem: Wetherspoon pubs boss raises a glass to Brexit
Wetherspoon’s boss Tim Martin says British business has nothing to fear from leaving the European Union without a deal, and to prove it he’s “Brexiting” his pubs by swapping French champagne and cognac for English sparkling wine and Australian brandy.
U.S. sanctions threaten Venezuela’s economy as Maduro eyes next move
Venezuelans braced for the deepening of a brutal economic crisis on Tuesday after the United States imposed sanctions sharply curbing the country’s vital oil exports, while the socialist government responded by refusing to load crude cargoes without pa…
China jailing of rights website founder aimed at grassroots activism -group
A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced the founder of a website that reported on human rights abuses to five years in jail for “inciting subversion” of state power, a verdict decried by a rights group as part of a campaign to bury grassroots activism.
After Brazil dam disaster, Vale asks for forgiveness, gets fury
Offers of penance from Vale SA for one of the deadliest mining disasters in decades fell on deaf ears in Brazil, where authorities and victims’ families seethed at a death toll from a burst dam likely to exceed 300 people.
U.S. drops out of top 20 performers in global corruption index, watchdog says
The United States slid four points lower on a global corruption index in 2018, dropping out of the top 20 countries for the first time since 2011, watchdog Transparency International said in a report that cited growing threats to democracy worldwide.
Guaido versus Maduro: Who is backing Venezuela’s two presidents
The United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil exports on Monday, a major escalation in its support for opposition leader Juan Guaido’s bid to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
Foreign media reporting conditions in China worsen, group says
Last year marked a “significant deterioration” in reporting conditions for foreign journalists in China, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said on Tuesday, with no reporter saying in a new survey that conditions had improved last year.
After 1MDB, Malaysia launches anti-graft plan to clean stables
Malaysia on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious five-year plan to clamp down on corruption in government, months after a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal brought down the previous administration.
Myanmar Suu Kyi’s party set to challenge army-drafted charter: sources
Myanmar’s ruling party was set on Tuesday to propose changes to the constitution, a member of parliament and a party source said, its biggest challenge in nearly three years to the military’s power over politics as enshrined in the charter.
