By Todd Benson and Asher Levine SAO PAULO (Reuters) - As many as 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Brazil's biggest cities on Monday in a swelling wave of protest tapping into widespread anger at poor public services, police violence and government corruption. The marches, organized mostly through snowballing social media campaigns, blocked streets and halted traffic in more than a half-dozen cities, including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Brasilia, where demonstrators climbed onto the roof of Brazil's Congress building and then stormed it. ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday it will spend $572 million to buy 30 Russian-built military helicopters that will be used by Afghan security forces. The Mi-17 helicopters will be used by Afghanistan's National Security Forces Special Mission Wing, which supports counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics and special operations missions. The contract with Rosoboronexport, the Russian arms company, covers spare parts, test equipment and engineering support. The Pentagon said the work would be performed in Russia. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. ...
By Kate Holton and Jeff Mason ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin faced further isolation on the second day of a G8 summit on Tuesday as world leaders lined up to pressure him into toning down his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Following an icy encounter between the Kremlin chief and U.S. President Barack Obama late on Monday, the G8 leaders will seek to find resolution to a war that has prompted powers across the Middle East to square off on sectarian lines. ...
By Mirwais Harooni and Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - A bomb targeted a senior Shia Muslim cleric in the west of Kabul on Tuesday, police said, shortly before the international military coalition marked its final handover of security to national forces. At least three civilians were killed and 21 wounded in the blast, which is bound to fuel concern over how the 352,000-strong Afghan security forces will tackle an intensifying insurgency after most foreign combat troops leave the country by the end of 2014. ...
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea rushed to the defense of American civil liberties on Tuesday, saying revelations of mass surveillance operations showed the United States was the "kingpin" of rights abuse. Rights groups and defectors have long accused the North, one of the world's most closed societies, of totalitarian practices. These include brutal suppression of dissent, the operation of a prison camp network holding some 200,000 inmates and a "military-first" policy that has led to periodic famines. ...
By Mitra Taj PEROL LAKE, Peru (Reuters) - Thousands of opponents of a $5 billion gold project of Newmont Mining circled a lake high in the Andes on Monday, vowing to stop the company from eventually draining it to make way for Peru's most expensive mine. Lake Perol is one of several lakes that would eventually be displaced to mine ore from the Conga project. Water from the lakes would be transferred to four reservoirs that the U.S. company and its Peruvian partner, Buenaventura, are building or planning to build. ...
Prosecutors can use a suspect’s silence during informal police questioning as evidence of guilt at a subsequent trial, the US Supreme Court said on Monday.
Judges will no longer be permitted to autonomously determine a fact in a criminal case if that fact increases a mandatory minimum punishment for the defendant, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, saying any such fact must be decided by a jury.
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) — Deep differences over Syria's fierce civil war clouded a summit of world leaders Monday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin defiantly rejecting calls from the U.S., Britain and France to halt his political and military support for Syrian leader Bashar Assad's regime.
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) — Hunting for a glimmer of common ground, the leaders of major economic powers are declaring themselves dedicated to a political solution to Syria's bloody civil war, even as President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin stake out diametrically opposite stands on which side deserves military support.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced at a ceremony on Tuesday that his country's armed forces are taking over the lead for security nationwide from the U.S.-led NATO coalition.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's newly elected president showcased his reform-leaning image Monday by promising a "path of moderation" that includes greater openness on Tehran's nuclear program and overtures to Washington. He also made clear where he draws the line: No halt to uranium enrichment and no direct U.S. dialogue without a pledge to stay out of Iranian affairs.
LUXOR, Egypt (AP) — Angry tourism workers and activists in Luxor threatened Monday to block a newly appointed Islamist governor from his office because of his links to a former militant group that killed scores of people in a 1997 attack in the ancient city and devastated Egypt's sightseeing industry.
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) — Leaders of the G-8 wealthy nations are spending the final day of their summit focused on how to deter kidnappings of foreign workers in North Africa and how to corner globe-trotting companies into paying more taxes.
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — When the time came to vaccinate her 4-year-old daughter, Yelena Hlushko hesitated, spooked by widespread fears in Ukraine about vaccines and by a boil her older child developed after an immunization shot. Eventually she decided to follow the government's recommendation — only to find her local health clinic was out of the vaccine.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police have launched an investigation to find perpetrators who vandalized cars and sprayed hate graffiti in an Arab town near Jerusalem.
JERUSALEM (AP) — As Shimon Peres turns 90, the indefatigable Israeli president is doing what he has always done: looking ahead, preparing for the next challenge and believing that he will see Middle East peace in his lifetime.
SAO PAULO (AP) — In some of the biggest protests since the end of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship, demonstrations have spread across this continent-sized country and united people from all walks of life behind frustrations over poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A large bomb exploded in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, killing at least three people on the day the international military coalition hands over responsibility for fighting the Taliban insurgency to the nascent national army and police they have been training.
SYDNEY (AP) — Airborne laser technology has uncovered a network of roadways and canals, illustrating a bustling ancient city linking Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temples complex.
TEKANI, Bangladesh (AP) — Moushumi's family now has one of the largest homes in their village — two bedrooms plus a living area with walls made of sturdy brick. Her father and brother will soon have a small business out front, selling furniture her dad will make. There will be money to pay for her younger sister to get married when it's time.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama defended top secret National Security Agency spying programs as legal in a lengthy interview Monday, and called them transparent — even though they are authorized in secret.
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese university has built the world's fastest supercomputer, almost doubling the speed of the U.S. machine that previously claimed the top spot and underlining China's rise as a science and technology powerhouse.
SAO PAULO (AP) — More than 100,000 people took to the streets in largely peaceful protests in at least eight cities Monday, demonstrations that voiced the deep frustrations Brazilians feel about carrying heavy tax burdens but receiving woeful returns in public education, health, security and transportation.
MIAMI (AP) — A tropical depression has formed off the coast of Belize and forecasters say it is expected to bring as much as five inches of rain to parts of Belize, Guatemala, northern Honduras and southern Mexico.
TOKYO (AP) — Jitters over a possible change in U.S. stimulus efforts by the Federal Reserve helped pull share prices mostly lower in early Asian trading Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Monday that Iran's election of a relative moderate shows that the country's people want to change course. But he stressed that Tehran still needs to show the international community that it's not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's Buddhism body said it is monitoring monks nationwide for any inappropriate behavior after a video showed monks using luxurious personal items while flying on a private jet.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Women may be able to start training as Army Rangers by mid-2015 and as Navy SEALs a year later under plans set to be announced by the Pentagon that would slowly bring women into thousands of combat jobs, including those in elite special operations forces.
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish labor groups fanned a wave of defiance against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's authority, leading rallies and a one-day strike to support activists whose two-week standoff with the government has shaken the country's secular democracy.
By Roberta Rampton INNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they would sign an agreement on securing and destroying nuclear material to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, replacing a 1992 deal that expired on Monday. Obama and Putin met privately at the G8 summit to talk about pressing security issues and agreed to work together to protect, control and account for nuclear weapons. ...
SAO PAULO (AP) — Protesters massed in at least seven Brazilian cities Monday for another round of demonstrations voicing disgruntlement about life in the country, raising questions about security during big events like the current Confederations Cup and a papal visit next month.
LONDON (AP) — Art collector Charles Saatchi has been cautioned over a dramatic assault on his TV presenter wife Nigella Lawson captured by a tabloid photographer just outside a fancy London restaurant.