Panama Papers: US opens criminal probe
WASHINGTON • The United States Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation involving the leaked Panama Papers on offshore shell companies, according to an official letter to the group that brought the records to light.
The letter from the office of Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara asks to discuss the investigation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which worked with media outlets to reveal the documents.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
US accused of pressuring Moscow
BRUSSELS • •Russia's envoy to Nato accused the United States of trying to put pressure on Moscow by sailing a US guided-missile destroyer near Kaliningrad last week, warning that Russia will react if necessary.
Ambassador Alexander Grushko, speaking after the first Nato-Russia Council in almost two years, also said he saw no improvement in Nato-Russia relations until Nato allies scaled down military activities on Russia's borders.
REUTERS
Opposition: Syrian truce has collapsed
GENEVA • Syria's main opposition group said a seven-week truce has effectively broken down and it will not return to peace talks in Geneva unless the government halts its attacks and allows access for aid, amid reports that more than 40 civilians were killed in air strikes.
Syrian rebel forces have respected the ceasefire, while President Bashar al-Assad's troops have not and Russian warplanes are carrying out daily bombings, Mr Riad Hijab, head of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, said on Tuesday.
BLOOMBERG
Murderer wins lawsuit against state
OSLO • Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik yesterday won his lawsuit against the state over his "inhuman" solitary confinement in prison.
The Oslo district court said the right-wing extremist's almost five-year isolation in prison violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. But Judge Helen Andenaes Sekulic ruled that Breivik's right to correspondence, guaranteed by Article 8 of the convention, had not been violated.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
