UNITED NATIONS: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff used her position as the opening speaker at the UN General Assembly to accuse the US of violating human rights and international law through espionage that included spying on her email.
Rousseff had expressed her displeasure last week by calling off a high-profile state visit to the US scheduled for October over reports that the US National Security Agency had been spying on Brazil.
In unusually strong language, Rousseff launched a blistering attack on US surveillance, calling it an affront to Brazilian sovereignty and “totally unacceptable.”
She also proposed an international framework for governing the Internet
Campaigning kicks off ahead of key Madagascar polls
ANTANANARIVO: Madagascar’s election campaign opened yesterday ahead of presidential polls next month, as divisions over replacement candidates plagued the camps of major disqualified politicians.
Campaigning will last a month and finish a day before the October 24 poll meant to end a four-year political crisis on the Indian Ocean island sparked when strongman Andry Rajoelina ousted then-president Marc Ravalomanana in a coup. But supporters are divided over new candidates after Rajoelina and Ravalomanana’s wife Lalao, along with a few others, were barred from running under international pressure.
Protests in Greece over civil service cuts
ATHENS: Thousands of civil servants protested in Greece yesterday at the start of a fresh strike against job cuts pushed by the government in return for international bailout loans.
At least 3,000 people demonstrated in Athens, chanting slogans against the coalition government of conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Greece’s EU-IMF creditors.
Another 3,500 protesters marched in the northern city of Thessaloniki, according to police. “You’ve sold islands and ports, now sell your mother and get out of here, you bastards,” a crowd sang outside the administrative reform ministry, which is spearheading the civil service cuts.
British police staffer detained for bribery
LONDON: A member of staff at London’s Metropolitan Police headquarters was one of two people arrested yesterday as part of a bribery investigation sparked by the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World tabloid.
The 55-year-old man, and a 48-year-old woman, were arrested “for suspected conspiracy to cause misconduct in public office,” police said in a statement. Agencies
