World

QUITO, (Reuters) – Ecuador’s state prosecutors’ office said on Wednesday that it had opened an investigation of former President Rafael Correa and 10 former officials for alleged mismanagement of public debt during the last five years of his administration.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – India launched fast-track courts and a tougher rape law that included the death penalty after a gruesome assault on a young woman shocked the country in 2012, but crime statistics indicate the situation has got worse, not better, since then.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Britain’s upper house of parliament inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Theresa May’s government yesterday, challenging her refusal to remain in a customs union with the EU after Brexit.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – A power line failure in southern Puerto Rico cut electricity to almost all 3.4 million residents on Wednesday, the latest in a string of operational and political headaches for the U.S.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – The public prosecutor’s office in the northern state of Amapá recommended on Wednesday that Brazil’s environmental regulator Ibama deny French major Total a license to drill for oil near the mouth of the Amazon.

WASHINGTON, – A U.S. law requiring the deportation of immigrants convicted of certain crimes of violence is unconstitutionally vague, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday, in a decision that could hinder the Trump administration’s ability to step up the removal of immigrants with criminal records.

CARACAS/HOUSTON,  (Reuters) – Chevron Corp said yesterday two of its executives were arrested in Venezuela, a rare move likely to spook foreign energy firms still operating in the OPEC nation stricken by hyperinflation, shortages and crime.

WASHINGTON/PALM BEACH, Fla.,  (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State nominee and CIA Director Mike Pompeo made a secret visit to North Korea over the Easter weekend and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a senior U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Chinese smartphone maker ZTE Corp’s U.S. woes deepened yesterday, as regulators proposed new rules that could cut into its sales, while a supply ban means it may not be able to use Android software in its devices, according to a source.

NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Three Colorado communities filed a lawsuit against oil companies yesterday, launching the latest legal battle seeking damages for what they claim are the costs of adapting to climate change.

(Reuters) – Starbucks Corp will close 8,000 company-owned U.S. cafes for the afternoon on May 29 so 175,000 employees can undergo racial tolerance training in response to protests and calls for boycotts after the arrest of two black men waiting in a Philadelphia store.

(Reuters) – Former U.S. first lady Barbara Bush, the only woman to see her husband and son both sworn in as president, died yesterday, the Bush family said.

PHILADELPHIA,  (Reuters) – An engine on a Southwest Airlines flight with 149 people aboard exploded in mid-air yesterday, killing one passenger and nearly sucking another out of a window that was shattered by shrapnel, according to airline and federal authorities and witness and media accounts.

(Reuters) – Scientists in Britain and the United States say they have engineered a plastic-eating enzyme that could in future help in the fight against pollution.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May said yesterday she regretted Britain’s role in anti-gay legislation across its former colonies, seeking to address criticism of the Commonwealth at its gathering in London.

DAMASCUS/THE HAGUE,  (Reuters) – The United States accused Russia yesterday of blocking international inspectors from reaching the site of a suspected poison gas attack in Syria and said Russians or Syrians may have tampered with evidence on the ground.

LONDON/NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Commerce has banned American companies from selling components to Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp for seven years after breaking an agreement reached after it was caught illegally shipping goods to Iran, U.S.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer was forced yesterday to reveal in a New York federal court that Fox News personality Sean Hannity, one of Trump’s most ardent defenders, was also on his client list.

SRINAGAR, India, (Reuters) – Eight men accused of involvement in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state appeared in court yesterday for the first hearing in a case that sparked nationwide outrage and criticism of the ruling party.

SAN FRANCISCO, (Reuters) – A U.S. federal judge ruled yesterday that Facebook Inc must face a class action lawsuit alleging that the social network unlawfully used a facial recognition process on photos without user permission.