World

LONDON, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An unusual sex life may spell the extinction of the deadly African sleeping sickness parasite, which threatens millions of people in West and Central Africa, an international team of scientists said on Tuesday.

BRASILIA/SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – Brazil’s Federal Police today launched the latest stage of a sweeping investigation into corruption at state-controlled firms, with six arrest and 15 search warrants issued in the states of São Paulo and Santa Catarina.

KUALA LUMPUR, (Reuters) – Malaysia’s attorney-general cleared Prime Minister Najib Razak of any criminal offences or corruption on Tuesday, closing investigations into a murky multi-million-dollar funding scandal that his opponents had hoped would bring him down.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – As Rio de Janeiro prepares to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors for upcoming Carnival festivities and the Olympic Games in August, the city is scrambling to expel one unwelcome new arrival: the Zika virus.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The founder of the Bikram yoga practice was ordered to pay $924,500 on Monday to a former legal adviser who said she was fired for investigating sexual misconduct charges against her employer, media reported.

CHICAGO, (Reuters) – U.S. health officials yesterday issued interim guidelines for health care professionals in the United States caring for infants born to mothers who traveled or lived in an area with Zika virus transmission during pregnancy.

WASHINGTON/HAVANA, (Reuters) – he United States approved a wider range of commerce with Cuba yesterday, making it easier for U.S.

AMMAN/BEIRUT/GENEVA, (Reuters) – The United Nations invited Syria’s government and opposition to peace talks in Geneva on Friday, but Saudi-backed opponents of President Bashar al-Assad have yet to decide whether to drop their objections to taking part.

OTTAWA, (Reuters) – The government of Canada discriminated against aboriginal children by underfunding welfare services on reserves, a human rights tribunal ruled yesterday, a decision that could affect how Ottawa funds education, healthcare and housing for indigenous Canadians.

KUALA LUMPUR, (Reuters) – Malaysia’s attorney-general cleared Prime Minister Najib Razak of any criminal offences or corruption today, closing investigations into a murky multi-million-dollar funding scandal that his opponents had hoped would bring him down.

DOUALA, Cameroon (Reuters) – Suicide bombers targeting a town in northern Cameroon killed 32 people and wounded 66 yesterday, one of the worst attacks yet in the Central African nation as it struggles to contain violence blamed on Nigeria’s Boko Haram.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council should place an arms embargo on South Sudan, while the oil-rich country’s President Salva Kiir and a rebel leader qualify to be sanctioned over atrocities committed in a two-year civil war, UN sanctions monitors said in an annual report.

GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) – The mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has been linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil, is likely to spread to all countries in the Americas except for Canada and Chile, the World Health Organization said yesterday.

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – By giving scholarships to girls who are virgins, South Africa is trying to control women’s bodies while ignoring the role of men and sexual violence in spreading HIV/AIDS, a campaigner said.

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – The UN yesterday announced a US-financed pilot programme to help fight corruption in El Salvador, a Central American country so torn by drugs and gang warfare that it ranks among the most violent in the world.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Washington shut down U.S. federal government offices today, while New York prepared for a normal workday following the worst snowstorm in decades to ravage the U.S.

JAKARTA, (Reuters) – Indonesian agriculture officials routinely inflate rice harvest data to present a rosy picture to the government and keep farm subsidies flowing, but their latest phoney numbers could lead to a severe shortage of the staple in coming months, officials say.

TEHRAN, (Reuters) – Iran unveiled an expanded shopping list for more than 160 European planes – including 8 superjumbos – and dangled another big order in front of Boeing at Tehran’s first major post-sanctions business gathering yesterday.

WARSAW, (Reuters) – The United States is scrutinising developments in Poland, the U.S.

OTTAWA, (Reuters) – Canada’s government, grappling with a fatal attack in a remote aboriginal town, is very concerned about the “tragic and alarming” conditions in other indigenous communities, a top official said yesterday.