In brief: Protests demand Rousseff’s ouster

SAO PAULO – Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians marched peacefully Sunday in more than 150 cities around the country to demand President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment and to criticize government corruption amid a sprawling graft inquiry at state-run oil firm Petrobras.

The biggest of the protests took place in Sao Paulo, where some 210,000 gathered, according to the polling institute Datafolha. Large rallies were also seen in the capital Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro.

“We are here to express our indignation with the government-sponsored corruption and thieving, and to demand Dilma’s impeachment,” said Andre Menezes, 35, protesting in Sao Paulo.

“She may have not been directly involved in the corruption at Petrobras, but she certainly knew about it, and for me that makes her just as guilty and justifies her ouster,” he added.

Saddam’s tomb heavily damaged

OUJA, Iraq – The tomb of Iraq’s late dictator Saddam Hussein was virtually leveled in heavy clashes between Islamic State militants and Iraqi forces in a fight for control of the city of Tikrit.

Associated Press video from the village of Ouja, just south of Tikrit, shows all that remains of Saddam’s s once-lavish tomb are the support columns that held up the roof.

Saddam was executed in December 2006 after an Iraqi tribunal found him guilty of the mass killing of Shiites and Kurds. His body has been kept in the mausoleum in his birthplace, Ouja, since 2007.

Iraqi media reported last year that Saddam’s body was removed by loyalists amid fears that it would be disturbed in the fighting. The body’s location is not known.

Former Iran leader’s son prison-bound

TEHRAN, Iran – A son of influential former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been sentenced to 15 years in prison over security and corruption charges, authorities said Sunday.

Judicial spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi did not offer the specific charges on which Mahdi Hashemi Rafsanjani was convicted in comments posted on the judiciary’s website late Sunday.

Ejehi also said Rafsanjani had been sentenced to an unspecified cash fine and banned from public service.

The elder Rafsanjani is a centrist politician detested by hard-liners. His public support was one major reason why moderate President Hassan Rouhani won Iran’s 2013 presidential election.