Politics World News Headlines

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. accused China and Russia of failing to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking, ranking them on a par with North Korea and Syria.

WASHINGTON (AP) — By saying he intends to bargain with Russia over new reductions in nuclear weapons, rather than make cuts on his own, President Barack Obama is asking for cooperation from a former Cold War foe in no mood to agree.

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Calls by Sunni Muslim clerics for a holy war against the Syrian government and its Shi'ite allies are fuelling radicalism in the region, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, prominent cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi called for jihad in Syria after fighters from Shi'ite Lebanese …

By Ian Bremmer (Reuters) - This past weekend, centrist candidate Hassan Rohani won the Iranian presidential election by a landslide. Rohani beat the two perceived front-runners who were hand-selected conservative loyalists to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and he did it with an outright majority, bypassing an expected run-off. …

By Manuela D'Alessandro MILAN (Reuters) - Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were handed a 20-month suspended prison sentence and a heavy fine on Wednesday for hiding hundreds of millions of euros from the Italian tax authorities. The design duo, who are nearly as famous as the stars they dress, were not …

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's two biggest cities revoked an increase in public transportation fares, Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said on Wednesday, following the largest protests seen in the country in 20 years. Several smaller Brazilian cities have already suspended fare increases. …

By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An annual U.S. State Department report on Wednesday cited Russia and China among the world's worst offenders in fighting forced labor and sex trafficking, which could lead to U.S. sanctions. The U.S. designation drops Russia and China, which already often are at odds with Washington, …

By Brian Winter SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's blossoming protest movement is a coming-of-age for what had been one of Latin America's most politically disengaged youth populations, but does not appear to constitute a major threat to governability or established political parties. The protests, which gathered steam last …

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Growing discontent over rising prices in Brazil has dragged down President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating from record highs, pollsters said on Wednesday, adding that her popularity could deteriorate further if inflation is not tamed. The CNI/Ibope opinion poll was taken before the start of a current …

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's federal government is unable to lower taxes for public transportation any further, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Wednesday as protests against a recent increase in bus fares and shoddy public services spread nationwide. The minister's remarks poured cold water on speculation that President …

By Roberto Landucci ROME (Reuters) - Italy's constitutional court on Wednesday rejected a bid by Silvio Berlusconi to block a tax fraud conviction linked to his Mediaset television empire, clearing the way for a final verdict and deepening uncertainty facing Prime Minister Enrico Letta. Berlusconi issued a statement immediately …

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A statement announcing that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had dismissed Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin was a hoax, Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said on Wednesday. Timakova said the statement distributed to media outlets was made to look as if it had been sent by the government press …

(Reuters) - Below are key quotes from an appearance by Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz: ON RECENT ECONOMIC DATA: "We would never focus all of our attention on a single data point. For us it is a question of how is that trend shifting through time? Our sense of the numbers is they are coming together more or less as …

By Euan Rocha and Peter Henderson BURLINGTON, Ontario (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada cannot rely on its usual models to assess the economy because of unexpectedly high levels of uncertainty, with the biggest risks coming from abroad, the new central bank chief, Stephen Poloz, said on Wednesday. Answering audience questions …

By Clare Hutchison LONDON (Reuters) - Western government sanctions against Iran suffered a big setback on Wednesday when Britain's top court ruled that the government was wrong to have imposed sanctions on the biggest Iranian private bank over alleged links to Tehran's nuclear program. The Bank Mellat case and more than …

By Clare Hutchison LONDON (Reuters) - Western government sanctions against Iran suffered a big setback on Wednesday when Britain's top court ruled that the government was wrong to have imposed sanctions on the biggest Iranian private bank over alleged links to Tehran's nuclear programme. The Bank Mellat case and more than …

By Mike Collett RIO DE JANEIRO, June 19 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government has not lost control of the streets, the deputy minister of communications said on Wednesday as unrest in the country continued to overshadow the Confederations Cup. Thousands of protestors are expected to march the three kilometres from Rio's …

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement on Wednesday kicked out a lawmaker for criticizing its leader Beppe Grillo in the latest sign of growing internal strife in the party that took a quarter of votes at February's election. Grillo, a fiery former comedian, rode a wave of public disgust with traditional …

By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, in the first report on Russia's compliance with its World Trade Organization commitments, said on Wednesday it was closely watching Moscow for any violations that thwart U.S. exports to the world's sixth-largest economy. But in the report required by Congress, the …

ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi said a ruling by Italy's constitutional court on Wednesday that rejected his bid to block a tax-fraud conviction would have no effect on his support for Prime Minister Enrico Letta's government. Four-times Prime Minister Berlusconi's People of Freedom party is one of Letta's main backers …

President Obama's honeymoon with the world is over.

By Euan Rocha and Peter Henderson BURLINGTON, Ontario (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada is relying on a rebound in businesses confidence to drive the economy's return to health, the central bank's new chief, Stephen Poloz, said on Wednesday in a speech that revealed no clear leanings on monetary policy. In his first speech …

PARIS (Reuters) - The main nations making up the Friends of Syria will meet on Saturday in Doha to discuss assistance for the Free Syrian Army following recent successes by government forces, a French foreign ministry official said. The meeting will be attended by foreign ministers from the 11 countries making up the core …