World

(The author is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.)

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The United States filed charges against Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who revealed surveillance programs to media outlets, in a sealed criminal complaint dated June 14, according to a court document made public yesterday.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Britain’s spy agency GCHQ has tapped fibre-optic cables that carry international phone and internet traffic and is sharing vast quantities of personal information with the U.S.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – When Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng arrived in the United States in May last year he was given a fellowship at New York University, use of a Greenwich Village apartment, and a pile of gifts from supporters, including smartphones and an iPad.

BOGOTA,  (Reuters) – A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent died from stab wounds in an apparent robbery during a taxi ride from an exclusive part of Bogota late Thursday night, and Colombia’s president said no effort would be spared to find those responsible.

BEIRUT,  (Reuters) – The voice crackling over the Hezbollah radios was clear and authoritative, and the guerrillas poised to attack the Syrian border town of Qusair recognised it immediately.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Archaeologists have found an ancient Maya city that remained hidden for centuries in the rain forests of eastern Mexico, a discovery in a remote nature reserve they hope will yield clues about how the civilization collapsed around 1,000 years ago.

WASHINGTON  (Reuters) – Hiring screeners at Booz Allen Hamilton, a contractor for the National Security Agency, found possible discrepancies in a resume submitted by Edward Snowden, but the company still employed him, a source with detailed knowledge of the matter said yesterday.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance programme that will give its security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap directly into e-mails and phone calls without oversight by courts or parliament, several sources said.

DHAKA, (Reuters) – The number of people living in poverty in Bangladesh has fallen sharply over a decade, to 47 million from 63 million, a new World Bank report said yesterday.

(Reuters) – A U.S. Christian group that once promoted therapy to encourage gays and lesbians to overcome their sexual preferences has closed its doors and apologized to those who underwent treatment, acknowledging its mission had been hurtful and ignorant.

UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – Britain and a representative of the Falkland Islands yesterday rejected the idea of Pope Francis intervening in the long-running dispute with Argentina over the islands, which Buenos Aires claims are Argentine territory.

RIYADH,  (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief, Prince Muqrin, once told American diplomats the Middle East’s so-called Shi’ite Crescent where the Muslim sect holds sway was “becoming a full moon” as Iranian influence spread.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – The Sri Lankan government’s proposed code of ethics for the media is a threat to free speech, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said yesterday.

(Reuters) – Revived Afghan peace talks hit their first roadblock yesterday, a day after they were announced, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not join U.S.

MIAMI,  (Reuters) – The United States and Cuba will resume immigration talks next month after a break of more than two years, the State Department said yesterday.

BUDAPEST,  (Reuters) – Gyula Horn, who as Hungary’s last communist foreign minister ripped a hole in the Iron Curtain in 1989, has died at the age of 80 after long illness, the government said yesterday.

BERLIN,  (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama used a speech in Berlin yesterday to call on Russia to revive the push for a world without nuclear weapons, offering to cut deployed nuclear arsenals by a third, but Moscow immediately poured scorn on his proposal.

LONDON, (Reuters) – A deputy speaker of parliament was arrested on three counts of indecent assault yesterday, six weeks after he was first detained on suspicion of rape and sexual assault, police said.

BUDAPEST,  (Reuters) – Hungary’s tax authority has questioned two men over a fake contract that, if fulfilled, would have involved the sale of nearly half a million tonnes of sugar – more than the country’s annual sugar consumption – and a massive tax refund.