1. Protesters call for Temer to resign

Brazilian around the country staged* demonstrations on Sunday to call for their president to step down after the supreme court opened an investigation into allegations* he endorsed* the payment of hush money* to a jailed former lawmaker.

Unions, political parties and activists called for Brazilians to come out on Sunday to demand President Michel Temer to step down, though the protests in major cities were smaller than expected.

Temer has defied calls to resign, saying a leaked recording purportedly* implicating him in corruption was doctored* and denied any wrongdoing.

2. Blast wounds 24 at hospital in Bangkok

A bomb blast at a hospital in the Thai capital, Bangkok, wounded 24 people on Monday, on the third anniversary of a 2014 military coup*.

There was no claim of responsibility for the blast at the Phramongkutklao Hospital, which is popular with retired military officers.

“It was a bomb. We found the pieces that were used to make the bomb,” said Kamthorn Aucharoen, commander of the police’s explosive ordnance* team. “Right now, authorities are checking out closed circuit cameras.”

3. Philippines’ Duterte heads to Russia

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte flew to Russia on Monday to meet his hero, seek arms and steer his nation’s foreign policy course further away from longtime ally the United States.

The five-day trip will cement* a dramatic improvement in ties between the two nations since Duterte came to power last year and began unraveling the Philippines’ decades-long alliances with the United States.

Duterte will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has described as his “favorite hero” and proclaimed* a personal bond because of mutual passions such as guns and hunting.

4. Rouhani re-elected, pledges to open Iran

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani pledged on Saturday to open Iran to the world and deliver freedoms its people have yearned for, throwing down a defiant* challenge to his hard-line opponents after securing a decisive re-election for a second term.

Rouhani, long known as a cautious and mild-mannered establishment insider, reinvented himself as a bold champion of reform during the election campaign, which culminated* on Friday in victory with more than 57 percent of the vote. His main challenger, hard-line judge Ebrahim Raisi, received 38 percent.

5. Trump reaps US$110b Saudi arms deal

Under political fire at home, U.S. President Donald Trump sealed a US$110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia on Saturday on his maiden foreign trip as he struggled to shift attention from the aftermath* of his firing of the director of the FBI.

The arms deal, plus other investments that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said could total up to US$350 billion, was the central achievement of Trump’s first day in Riyadh, the first stop on a nine-day journey through the Middle East and Europe.

6. Assange claims victory

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange gave a clenched fist salute on Friday after Swedish prosecutors dropped a seven-year rape allegation, but he insisted the “proper war” over his future was just beginning.

Assange stepped into the daylight on the balcony of Ecuador’s London embassy, where he has been holed up* since 2012, to celebrate, but said the road was “far from over.”

The 45-year-old Australian’s accuser was angered by the decision and Assange declined to say whether he would leave the embassy. (SD-Agencies)