Tuesday, August 21, 2018
With poll-leading former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in jail and likely to be barred from running, Brazil's presidential election is wide open. A look at the five contenders with the best chances, according to polls. Jair Bolsonaro The former army captain and seven-term congressman has tapped into deep unease in Brazil, which is reeling from a sweeping corruption scandal and is struggling to grow again after a protracted recession. Bolsonaro has expressed nostalgia for...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
U.S. President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh agrees with the court's Chief Justice John Roberts that the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion is settled law, Senator Susan Collins said on Tuesday. Collins, a Republican, spoke to reporters after meeting Kavanaugh in her office. "We talked about whether he considered Roe to be settled law. He said that he agreed with what Justice Roberts said at his nomination hearing, in which he said that...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
A federal judge hearing arguments over a settlement between the Trump administration and a company that wants to post plans for printing 3D weapons on the internet said Tuesday that the issue is best decided by the president or the Congress. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik that while he will still rule on the legal issues involving the settlement, "a solution to the greater problem is so much better suited'' to the president or Congress. The settlement prompted 19 states...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Prosecutors with the special counsel's office say President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn is not yet ready to be sentenced. The joint filing with defense lawyers Tuesday is a sign that Flynn's cooperation with investigators is continuing. Flynn pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials during the presidential transition and his Turkish lobbying work. His sentencing has been...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Paul Manafort, the longtime political operative who for months led Donald Trump's winning presidential campaign, was found guilty of eight financial crimes Tuesday in the first trial victory of the special counsel investigation into the president's associates. A judge declared a mistrial on 10 other counts the jury could not agree on. The verdict was part of a stunning one-two punch of bad news for the White House, coming as the president's former lawyer,...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
A Syrian army offensive in the rebel-held enclave of Idlib would have a "catastrophic" humanitarian impact and cause levels of civilian suffering unprecedented in the seven-year war, aid agencies have warned. The government has said it aims to recapture the northwestern Idlib region, a refuge for civilians and rebels displaced from other areas of Syria as well as powerful jihadist forces. "If there is a large-scale military offensive, what we might see in Idlib in terms...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and "fixer," pleaded guilty Tuesday to campaign-finance violations and other charges, saying he and Trump arranged the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the election. Under a plea bargain reached with federal prosecutors, Cohen, 51, could get about four to five years in prison at sentencing Dec. 12. Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts in all,...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Taiwan vowed on Tuesday to fight China’s “increasingly out of control” behavior after Taipei lost another ally to Beijing when El Salvador became the third country to switch allegiances to China this year. Taiwan now has formal relations with only 17 countries worldwide, many of them small, less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, including Belize and Nauru. Speaking in Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan would not bow to pressure, describing El Salvador’s...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said it did not find any indication that North Korea had stopped its nuclear activities, adding to doubts about the country's willingness to abandon its arsenal. "The continuation and further development of the DPRK's nuclear program and related statements by the DPRK are a cause for grave concern," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report published late Monday. The report, which refers to the country's official name...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
U.S. and Mexican trade ministers were set to resume talks over the North American Free Trade Agreement in Washington on Tuesday in a final push for a deal on autos that would open the door for Canada to return to negotiations this week. If Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer can resolve remaining bilateral issues, "the plan is to try to incorporate Canada into the discussions," possibly as early as Thursday, said a Mexican...
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