UKRAINE: Kiev said today that it will stick to a truce with separatists following a day largely free of fighting. A spokesman said there had been attacks on government positions, but far fewer than usual.

The cessation in hostilities follows a proposal last week by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to hold a “day of silence” in a bid to revive a largely ignored ceasefire deal reached in September.

A new round of peace talks is expected this week.

BRAZIL: The country’s National Truth Commission delivered its final report today, documenting acts of torture, disappearances and killings committed during the 1964-85 military dictatorship.

Commission members presented the findings of the three-year investigation to President Dilma Rousseff.

It documents 434 killings and disappearances under the dictatorship.

The commission called for changing the 1979 amnesty law that still shields military personnel from possible prosecution.

SYRIA: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov arrived in Damascus today for talks get all sides in the civil war to the negotiating table.

Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper said Mr Bogdanov would meet President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem during the trip.

Mr Bogdanov says Russia is trying to arrange a meeting between Syria’s warring sides without preconditions.

SOUTH AFRICA: Prosecutors can appeal against Oscar Pistorius’s acquittal on murder charges for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a judge ruled today.

Judge Thokozile Masipa said she was satisfied that chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel had raised “questions of law” that should be reviewed by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

“This might have a practical effect on the conviction,” she said.

NEW ZEALAND: MPs passed anti-terrorism measures on Tuesday that increase domestic surveillance powers and try to stop people from going to fight for groups such as Islamic State.

MPs voted in favor of the Bill by 94 votes to 27.

The law will allow the nation’s domestic spy agency to carry out surveillance for up to 24 hours without a warrant.

It also lets the government cancel a passport on national security grounds for three years, up from one.

NORTHERN IRELAND: The region has become the first part of the United Kingdom to outlaw paying for sex.

The Assembly united on Tuesday to support the Human Trafficking and Sexual Services Bill, in the works since 2013.

Most European Union countries have kept prostitution legal and outlawed most activities associated with the trade.

Northern Ireland has opted to make the customers guilty of crimes, not the prostitutes.

GREECE: Police destroyed a bomb today outside a northern Athens bank.

An anonymous caller alerted authorities to a timer-activated bomb in the Aghia Paraskevi suburb. Police cordoned off the area and destroyed the device in a controlled explosion.

The caller, who gave a 30-minute warning, said the attack was in solidarity with hunger-striking prisoner Nikos Romanos.

SOUTH AFRICA: Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu has cancelled travel plans for the rest of the year so he can undergo new treatment for prostate cancer, which he has had for 15 years.