SAN SALVADOR (AP) – Prosecutors in El Salvador opened a massive, joint trial of nearly 500 alleged members of the MS-13 gang on charges that include homicide, extortion and arms trafficking.
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices sank, and stock markets burst higher worldwide with hopes that a deal is nearing to allow tankers to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf again. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 1.5% and reached another record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 2%.
MEXICO CITY (AP) – The U.S. government slapped sanctions Thursday on two sons of Nicaragua’s husband-and-wife copresidents, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, as well as other officials and companies tied to the country’s gold industry, saying they help prop up a repressive government.
Five months ago, President Donald Trump was stinging from one of the first political defeats of his second term as Republican state senators defied him on redistricting in Indiana. Now he has proved he can still punish wayward party members after he endorsed a slate of challengers who defeated almost every one of the lawmakers he wanted to dislodge.
SAN SALVADOR (AP) – Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Wednesday signed into law constitutional reforms to permit life prison sentences for people as young as 12, a contentious reform that follows other heavy-handed measures pushed through by the populist leader.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Russia is shifting from individual recruits to ‘professional’ networks to carry out a campaign of sabotage and other attacks across Europe, Poland’s internal security service said in a report published Wednesday. European officials and law enforcement have previously warned that Russia is waging a hybrid war against Europe.
HONG KONG (AP) – A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based conglomerate started arbitration proceedings against Danish logistics and port group Maersk, accusing the company of aligning with Panama in a scheme to take over its port operations on the Central American country’s critical canal.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday accused China of “bullying” by detaining or holding up dozens of Panama-flagged ships – though for a short period of time – after the Central American country seized control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal earlier this year from a subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company.