International

Sao Paulo, Sep 1 : A majority of justices on Brazil’s electoral court voted late Friday to bar ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from running in October’s presidential election, virtually ending any chance that the front-runner will get on the ballot. The decision, while long expected, leaves tens of millions of voters without a candidate and adds uncertainty to ...

Washington, Sep 1 : President Donald Trump “nodded with approval” at the suggestion of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a court filing Friday night that seeks leniency for a former campaign aide who lied to the FBI. Lawyers for George Papadopoulos are seeking probation, saying the foreign policy adviser misled agents during a January 2017 interview ...

Charlotte, Sep 1 : President Donald Trump says the prospect of North Carolina drawing new congressional districts just weeks before the November midterm elections is “unfair.” A panel of federal judges this week struck down the state’s congressional map, saying Republican state legislators went too far in using political data to preserve GOP-held seats. The judges raised the possibility of ...

Honolulu, Sep 1 : A can of pepper spray went off inside a plane headed from Oakland, California, to Maui on Friday, requiring emergency help for several people aboard, Hawaiian Airlines said. Twelve passengers and three flight attendants were treated for respiratory issues and released by emergency responders at the airport in Kahului, Hawaii, airline spokesman Alex Da Silva said. ...

Three Bulgarian ministers have resigned in the aftermath of a bus crash that killed 17 people and injured several others.   Prime Minister Boyko Borissov called Friday for the resignations of his interior, transport and regional development ministers over the crash, and Valentin Radev, Ivaylo Moskovki and Nikolay Nankov later agreed they would take political responsibility and resign.  The resignations ...

A Spanish sex workers’ union will hold a news conference Friday to react to the government’s decision to overturn its registration, a move that has reignited a debate among feminists over the legal status of prostitution.   Prostitution is tolerated but unregulated in Spain. There is no punishment for those who offer paid sexual services freely as long as it’s ...

South Korean media say President Moon Jae-in will send an envoy to North Korea next week for talks on a nuclear standoff and to set up a summit planned for next month.   There has been growing worry over the slow pace of getting North Korea to end its nuclear program following President Donald Trump’s landmark summit with North Korean ...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has chosen former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to be the world body’s new human rights chief. She replaced Jordan’s outspoken Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, who is stepping down at the end of the month after a four-year term in the Geneva-based job.   Bachelet, a victim of torture under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, was conservative Chile’s ...

An Afghan official says a roadside bomb has killed five border police and wounded four others in eastern Nangarhar province. A vehicle carrying the officers struck the mine in Achin District on Thursday, police officer Qais Saifi told The Associated Press on Friday.   No one immediately took responsibility but Saifi blamed the Islamic State group, saying they regularly plant ...

Thousands of Pakistan’s hard-line Islamists have called off their rally after reaching near Islamabad following the cancellation of a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest by a Dutch anti-Muslim lawmaker. The far-right opposition politician Geert Wilders said Thursday he canceled the cartoon contest following death threats and concerns other people could be put at risk.   The decision prompted Khadim Hussain Rizvi, ...