general secretary

Tokyo Olympic organizers and two government bodies building venues for next year’s games have until the end of the month to agree to outside inspections on construction sites. Ambet Yuson, the general secretary of the Building and Wood Workers’ International, made the request on Thursday to officials of the Tokyo organizing committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japan Sport...

Catholic services are being canceled for a second weekend in Sri Lanka’s capital after the government warned of more possible attacks by the same Islamic State-linked group that carried out Easter suicide bombings. Rev. Edmund Tillakaratne, spokesman for the Colombo diocese, said Thursday that Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had canceled all Sunday services in the diocese based on the latest security...

President Donald Trump is trying to manage expectations for his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, predicting a “continuation of the progress” made last time. Trump tweeted Sunday that he was leaving early the next day for the meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, adding a tantalizing nod to “Denuclearization?” He also said Kim knows that “without nuclear weapons,...

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un was on a train Sunday to Vietnam for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the U.S., and Kim Yo Jong, the leader’s sister, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported. Late Saturday,...

Germany’s central region of Hesse was voting Sunday in a state election marked by discontent with infighting in the national government — and its results could help determine whether Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration has a long-term future. The election for the state legislature in Hesse, which includes Germany’s financial center of Frankfurt, comes as support for the country’s governing parties...

A prominent critic of the Kremlin says Russia is abusing an Interpol system of warrants that caused him to be briefly detained in Spain on Wednesday. William Browder, a U.S-born investor based in London, said he was in the Spanish capital to share evidence with prosecutors on money laundered in the southern European country by Russian criminal gangs. In December,...

China’s ruling Communist Party has proposed scrapping term limits for the country’s president, the official news agency said, appearing to lay the groundwork for party leader Xi Jinping to rule as president beyond 2023. The party’s Central Committee proposed to remove from the constitution the expression that China’s president and vice president “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms,”...

China’s ruling Communist Party has proposed scrapping term limits for the country’s president, the official news agency said Sunday, appearing to lay the groundwork for party leader Xi Jinping to rule as president beyond 2023. The party’s Central Committee proposed to remove from the constitution the expression that China’s president and vice president “shall serve no more than two consecutive...

A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier is expected to make a port visit to Vietnam in March, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday. It would be the first such visit in the postwar era. The planned visit to Danang is likely to irritate China, which is critical of U.S. moves to add to its military muscle in the region. Mattis...

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and their prospective center-left partners in government faced criticism Tuesday over their reported willingness to push back Germany’s target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. Merkel’s Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats are holding preliminary talks this week on extending their coalition of the past four years. Conservative negotiator Armin Laschet told a business...

His White House in turmoil, President Donald Trump abruptly announced late Friday he was appointing Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to be his chief of staff, ending the tumultuous six-month tenure of Reince Priebus....
After months of speculation about Priebus’ fate, Trump tweeted his decision just as he landed in Washington after a speech in New York in which he lavishly...

Chuck Blazer, the disgraced American soccer executive whose admissions of corruption set off a global scandal that ultimately toppled FIFA President Sepp Blatter, died Wednesday. He was 72. Blazer’s death was announced by his lawyers, Eric Corngold and Mary Mulligan. At a November 2013 court hearing during which Blazer entered guilty pleas to 10 federal charges, Blazer said he had...

At least 105 athletes from the 387-strong Russian Olympic team announced last week have been barred from the Rio Games in connection with the country’s doping scandal. International federations in canoeing, sailing and modern pentathlon ruled out eight on Tuesday, including an Olympic gold medalist. Rowing added 19 more athletes to three that had previously been announced. Swimming has also...

Gianni Infantino of Switzerland is the new FIFA president after winning a second-round vote. Infantino got 115 of the 207 eligible votes to take a decisive majority ahead of Sheikh Salman of Bahrain. Sheikh Salman got 88 votes after being the front-runner during the four-month campaign. Prince Ali of Jordan had four, and Jerome Champagne of France got zero. In...

Muslims around the U.S. are facing backlash following the deadly attacks in Paris, including vandalism to mosques and Islamic centers, hate-filled phone and online messages and threats of violence. Advocacy leaders say they have come to expect some anti-Muslim sentiment following such attacks, but they now see a spike that seems notable, stirred by anti-Muslim sentiment in the media.

Under Blatter’s presidential rule since 1998, FIFA survived — even thrived — through financial crisis and a slew of allegations of bribery, vote-buying and World Cup ticket scams.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter will resign from soccer’s governing body amid a widening corruption scandal and promised Tuesday to call for fresh elections to choose a successor....
The 79-year-old Blatter was re-elected to a fifth term on Friday, two days after a corruption crisis erupted and seven soccer officials were arrested in Zurich ahead of the FIFA congress. “This mandate does...