High court suspends house speaker

Brazil's Supreme Court on Thursday suspended a powerful lawmaker at the center of efforts to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, on grounds he tried to obstruct a probe into his alleged corruption.

Mounted Police escort evacuee convoys

A convoy of evacuees began the long drive out of work camps north of the fire-ravaged Fort McMurray area on Friday morning.

Woman charged over $3.4 m 'handbag spree'

Australian police have charged a 21-year-old woman with fraud after she allegedly spent $3.4 million that her bank mistakenly gave her, with much of the money reportedly lavished on handbags.

US cracks down on e-cigarettes, bans sales to minors

The US government on Thursday took wide-ranging steps to crack down for the first time on e-cigarettes and cigars, which have been growing in popularity among teens, and banned sales to anyone under age 18 in hopes of sparing a new generation from nicotine addiction.

IN BRIEF (Page 9)

With cannabis, chef takes cuisine to a higher place

Edible marijuana market has evolved into an industry of multimillion dollars

South Korea's latest online celebrities: Stray cats eating

The stars of the latest online trend in South Korea stay out of sight most of the day. Viewers don't seem to mind waiting for hours while nothing happens. When the stray cats finally come to eat the food left out for them, people watching online sit enraptured by their feline charms.

Alberta declares state of emergency as fires advance

More than 1,600 homes and structures have been destroyed by wind-whipped wildfiresy

London set to elect Muslim mayor

London was on course to become the first European Union capital with a Muslim mayor as voters went to the polls on Thursday following a bitter campaign that stayed ugly to the very end.

Islamist leader to be executed after sentence upheld

The leader of Bangladesh's top Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami is set to hang within days after the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld his death sentence for war crimes.

'Trump of the East' may win presidency

It looks almost inevitable now that the Philippines' next president will be a man who has said he would kill his own children if they took drugs.

IN BRIEF (Page 11)