“Two steps here, two steps there”: When storied singer Elis Regina purrs the honeyed Brazilian bolero, lovers tingle. When deft politicians take up their familiar two-step, voters know that democracy is in for a hit. So it has been in recent weeks as national lawmakers have finally begun to overhaul Brazil’s discredited political system. It’s about time. With 35 registered ...

The circumstances of the crash of the USS John S. McCain near Singapore, which killed at least one US sailor and has left nine missing, remain unclear pending a Navy investigation. The bigger picture, however, is already in focus: Four major accidents this year involving ships of the Seventh Fleet highlight a systemic problem that imperils American dominance on the ...

Some Republican senators have begun to shed their reluctance to criticize the presidency of Donald Trump. When Congress returns from its August recess, they’ll have the chance to do something about it. Only Congress and the courts have the constitutional power to constrain an executive. The courts have been performing their assigned role, placing constitutional barriers in the way of ...

For North Korea’s fledgling economy, the latest round of sanctions will cut deep. The curbs on everything from lead and fish exports to shady North Korean companies coincide with a deadly drought that’s ruining crops, darkening an already dire humanitarian picture. An estimated 40 percent of the population is already under nourished and two-thirds are reliant on food aid, according ...

Vietnam’s economy has been performing remarkably well in recent years. Unemployment is just 2.3 percent. Growth is expected to exceed 6 percent annually until 2019. Disbursed foreign direct investment is set to rise to more than $16 billion this year—a record—while manufacturing has been booming as companies shift production from China. Yet even as its economy thrives, Vietnam’s politics have ...

On the afternoon of May 27, 1901, the clerk of the Alabama Constitutional Convention read out a letter to the delegates written by educator Booker T. Washington and signed by 23 other state black leaders. A couple of the delegates had objected to hearing it, as it was already past adjournment time, but Thomas W. Coleman, a Princeton-educated lawyer from ...

Bloomberg Stocks slumped across Europe and Asia and havens including gold jumped after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan, rattling markets from London to Sydney. Gasoline climbed as energy companies braced for another hit from Tropical Storm Harvey. As equities retreated, volatility rose and bonds gained in classic risk-off moves. US stock futures also tumbled, Treasuries jumped and ...

DUBAI / Reuters Qatar’s stock market dropped on Tuesday after Fitch cut the country’s credit rating, while most other Gulf bourses fell in thin trade but Egypt’s blue-chip index gained strongly, helped by investment firm Qalaa Holdings. Fitch lowered Qatar by one notch to AA-minus with a negative outlook on Monday, citing the impact of sanctions imposed by other Arab ...

Bloomberg A logjam is looming at the Bank of England as almost 80 foreign banks that are operating UK branches decide on their future in post-Brexit Britain. The first choice for lenders from the European Union using the passporting mechanism for their UK business— a device that will no longer be available after Brexit— is whether to stay or go. ...

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Comerica Inc. are among banks waiving ATM fees for Houston-area customers following flooding from Hurricane Harvey. JPMorgan will also forgo collecting late fees for mortgage, credit card, business banking and auto loans, and will temporarily suspend monthly service and overdraft charges on deposit accounts, the firm said. Wells Fargo also ...