Nicolas Maduro asks judge to toss out indictment against him

NEW YORK (AP) – The lawyer for deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro asked a judge on Thursday to toss out the indictment against his client on the grounds that the United States has unconstitutionally violated his rights to defend himself by blocking Venezuelan funds to pay his legal costs.

Iran fires missiles at Israel and Gulf states

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iran fired missiles at targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states Sunday after vowing massive retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the United States and Israel, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten Tehran against further escalation.

Uruguay and Argentina Ratify EU Trade Pact

BUENOS AIRES (AP) – Uruguay and Argentina on Thursday became the first founding members of the Mercosur bloc of South American nations to ratify a long-sought free-trade agreement with the European Union to establish one of the world’s largest free-trade zones.

World leaders react cautiously to US and Israeli strikes

BRUSSELS (AP) – How long will it last? Will it grow? What will the conflict and the reported death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei mean to us, and to global security overall? Those questions echoed across the Middle East and the planet Saturday as world leaders reacted warily to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

US moves to legally control 2M barrels of oil seized off Venezuela's coast

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department has filed a complaint to legally take ownership of a sanctioned tanker and nearly 2 million barrels of petroleum seized off the coast of Venezuela in December, another step by President Donald Trump’s administration to assert power over the country’s oil sector after capturing leader Nicolás Maduro.

How succession works in Iran and who will be the next supreme leader?

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after almost 37 years in power raises paramount questions about the country’s future. The contours of a complex succession process began to take shape the morning after Khamenei’s assassination.

Argentina's Senate convenes for final labor reform vote

BUENOS AIRES (AP) – A coalition of labor unions, opposition parties and left-wing organizations marched through downtown Buenos Aires on Friday, in protest of President Javier Milei’s sweeping labor overhaul to be debated in the Senate in the coming hours.

Editorials from The Washington Post, New York Times, The Guardian and others

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

Search for Brazil flood survivors continues as death toll rises to 64

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Landslides and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais that have been state triggered by days of heavy rains have claimed the lives of 64 people, authorities say. Downpours that started late Monday have wreaked havoc across parts of the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, about 310 kilometers (192 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro.