BEIJING (AP) — A blind Chinese legal activist was hurriedly taken from a hospital and put on a plane for the United States on Saturday, closing a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle that had tested U.S.-China relations. Chen Guangcheng, sitting in a wheelchair and accompanied by his wife and two children, boarded United Airlines Flight...
It’s graduation day–a day that’s getting quite familiar to Marc and Beverly Ostrofsky of Houston. Today, they’ll attend two graduation ceremonies, one for their daughter Shelly, 22, from Washington University in St. Louis and another for their daughter, Mary Grace, 18, from Kincaid High School. … ... read more at article source
KABUL (Reuters) – A suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated explosives in an Afghan district close to the border with Pakistan, killing at least 10 people including children, officials said on Saturday. The attack comes one day ahead of a NATO summit in Chicago, where the coalition intends to spell out its role in...
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka‘s President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected calls from the United States to close army bases in a former war zone as he celebrated the third anniversary on Saturday of the military’s victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels. Fighter jets flew over Colombo and thousands of soldiers paraded in the streets flanked...
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) – At least 22 al Qaeda-linked militants and 12 Yemeni soldiers were killed in clashes and air strikes overnight during a new U.S.-backed offensive against insurgents in the south of the country, officials said on Saturday. Fighting erupted late on Friday and carried on into Saturday on the outskirts of the...
DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates urged their citizens to stay away from Lebanon, citing security concerns in a country where fighting prompted by sectarian tensions in neighboring Syria has unsettled areas near a northern port. The three Gulf states’ Foreign Ministries urged all those already in Lebanon – a...
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan‘s central bank has received “a large amount” of hard currency from abroad and plans to use it to stabilize the pound following the local currency’s effective devaluation, the deputy central bank governor said in remarks published on Saturday. Deputy governor Badr el-Din Mahmoud told al-Sudani newspaper the central bank had...
BRINDISI, Italy (Reuters) – A bomb exploded in front of a girls’ school in southern Italy on Saturday, killing a 16-year-old girl and wounding seven others, suspicion quickly falling on the local Mafia. The explosion, near the entrance of a school named after the wife of murdered anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, occurred as girls...
CAMP ROUND MEADOW, Maryland (Reuters) – Leaders of the Group of Eight major economies are making progress on addressing the two biggest threats to their economies – the euro zone crisis and very high oil prices, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Saturday. After an early morning bilateral meeting with U.S. President Barack...
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – European officials are working on contingency plans in case Greece bombs out of the euro zone, the EU’s trade commissioner said on Friday, as European share prices tumbled and Germany warned of continuing financial turmoil. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, one of Greece’s harsher critics, … ... read more at article source
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – A construction worker was killed and three people were wounded when Kurdish militants attacked a military outpost in southeastern Turkey near the Iraqi border, security sources said on Saturday. Fevzi Altunc was killed late on Friday when gunmen from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) opened fire on the outpost in...
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian soldiers beat and tortured protesters they had arrested at a demonstration near the Defence Ministry this month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Saturday, citing victims and lawyers. The New York-based group said soldiers arrested at least 350 protesters, including 10 children and 16 women, on May 4 amid violence...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Friday it believes China spent up to $180 billion on its military buildup last year, a far higher figure than acknowledged by Beijing, and it accused “Chinese actors” of being the world’s biggest perpetrators of economic espionage. China rejected the report as irresponsible, saying the United States...
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A car bomb blew up at a Syrian intelligence post in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday, killing up to nine people, activists and state media said. State television said the attack was the latest evidence that Syria is facing a foreign-sponsored Sunni Islamist conspiracy rather than a broad...
BEIJING (Reuters) – China allowed a blind legal activist, Chen Guangcheng, to leave a hospital in Beijing on Saturday and board a plane bound for the United States, a move that could signal the end of a diplomatic standoff between the two countries. Chen’s escape from house arrest in northeastern China last month and...
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece confirmed on Saturday that it would a hold a repeat general election on June 17, after party leaders failed to form a coalition government following an inconclusive election. “We are calling a general election for June 17. The new parliament will convene on June 28, Thursday,” said a statement from...
BEIJING (Reuters) – Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng obtained a passport at Beijing airport on Saturday after his release from hospital and will soon board a flight to the United States, a friend said, a move that would signal the end of a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Chen told Jiang Tianyong,...
CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will press European leaders to ease up on fiscal austerity and focus on economic growth at a summit on Saturday that will discuss ways to stem turmoil in the euro zone and head off the risk of global contagion. At the wooded Camp David retreat in...
ROME (Reuters) – A bomb exploded in front of a school in southern Italy on Saturday, killing a 16 year-old girl and wounding at least six others, two seriously, authorities said on Saturday. The explosion, near the entrance of a girls’ school named after the wife of murdered anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, occurred as...
Article: Syrian TV: Suicide bomber carried out Deir al-Zor attack 57 mins ago ... read more at article source
WASHINGTON (AP) — The NATO meeting in Chicago this weekend is a chance for alliance leaders to proclaim solidarity and promise success. But the gathering probably won’t resolve the underlying anxiety about sharing the burdens of defense. That’s a concern heightened by Europe’s economic crisis and America’s growing weariness about carrying the heaviest load....
BEIRUT (AP) — A strong explosion shook Syria‘s eastern city of Deir el-Zour Saturday, apparently targeting a security agency in the latest of a wave of blasts to hit the country in recent months, state media and opposition activists reported. State TV said a car bomb caused casualties and severe damage to residential and...
BEIJING (Reuters) – Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng said on Saturday he had left a hospital in Beijing and was at the airport where he expected to be departing for the United States, a move that would signal the end of a diplomatic crisis between the two country. Chen, who has been in...
ROME (Reuters) – A bomb exploded in front of a school in the southern Italian town of Brindisi on Saturday, killing one person and injuring at least six people, an official from the Civil Protection authority said. Few details were available and the official said more than one device may have been involved in...
Article: Syrian TV: Suicide bomber carried out Deir al-Zor attack 44 mins ago ... read more at article source
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A 73-year-old Japanese woman has climbed Mount Everest, smashing her own record to again become the oldest woman to scale the world’s highest mountain. Ang Tshering of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association says Tamae Watanabe reached Everest’s 8,850-meter-high (29,035-foot-high) summit from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet on...
BEIJING (AP) — The Canadian government says it is pleased that a high-profile Chinese smuggler who had been extradited from Canada has received a life sentence, and not the death penalty. Foreign Affairs and International Trade spokeswoman Patricia Low-Bedard says China lived up to its assurance that Lai Changxing would not receive the death...
BEIJING (AP) — A blind Chinese activist whose escape from a rural village set off a diplomatic tussle between Beijing and Washington says he is at an airport waiting to leave for the United States. Chen Guangcheng told The Associated Press that he has left the hospital where he’d been staying and is at...
Article: Blind Chinese activist Chen says is at Beijing airport 53 mins ago ... read more at article source
CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) — President Barack Obama and leaders of other major industrial powers grappled Friday with options to solidify world resolve against development of an Iranian nuclear bomb and encourage a more forceful response to worsening violence in Syria. Obama will have the ear of key players on both issues during back-to-back...
BEIJING (Reuters) – Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said on Saturday the authorities‘ drive to manipulate his nephew’s case would not succeed, but instead would increase public discontent over an episode that has renewed international focus on China’s human rights and legal system. Chen Guangcheng’s nephew, Chen Kegui, was denied his family’s choice of...
CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) – Group of Eight leaders agreed in their initial discussions at Camp David on Friday that Iran needs to disclose more about its nuclear ambitions and that it was time to focus on a political transition in Syria, a U.S. official said. The leaders, including newly elected French President Francois...
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Scores of Christian youths in the Philippines chanted “Stop the Lady Gaga concerts” at a rally Friday calling for the pop diva’s shows here to be canceled despite assurances from authorities that they won’t allow nudity and lewd acts. Sold-out crowds and angry protests followed Lady Gaga‘s “Born This Way”...
MONTREAL (AP) — Quebec‘s provincial government passed an emergency law Friday that sets restrictions on demonstrations and shuts some universities as the government seeks to end three months of protests against tuition hikes. The law risks inciting students who called it an act of war. The law passed 68-48. Among the controversial provisions is...
CANNES, France (AP) — The breakout performance at the Cannes Film Festival this year is Aniello Arena‘s turn as a Naples fishmonger who becomes obsessed with appearing on a “Big Brother”-style TV show in “Reality.” But the star will not be walking the red carpet at the Italian movie’s gala premiere Friday. He’ll be...
WASHINGTON (AP) — In his first visit to the Oval Office, French President Francois Hollande declared he will withdraw all French combat troops from Afghanistan by year’s end, making clear to President Barack Obama the timeline for ending the U.S.-led war will not trump a campaign pledge that helped Hollande gain his new job....
VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. nuclear agency chief will fly to Tehran over the weekend to sign a deal meant to allow his organization to resume a long- stalled search for evidence that Iran worked on developing nuclear arms, the agency and diplomats said Friday. The trip Sunday by International Atomic Energy Agency chief...
MADRID (AP) — Chaos in Greek politics and Spanish banking combined this week to underscore just how fragile Europe‘s economy remains after an eviscerating austerity regime that has spawned unemployment, desperation and misery. And there is no respite in sight, as Germany’s finance minister predicted Friday that the crisis could last up to another...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, concerned by his portrayal in U.S. media as an autocratic leader intent on consolidating power, has invited several influential Washington scholars to Baghdad to meet his team next week. The rare invitation was extended to Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution, Danielle Pletka of the American...
PARIS (Reuters) – The French find their new first lady, Valerie Trierweiler, to be down-to-earth compared to her former supermodel predecessor, but distant, a poll released on Friday said. The Paris Match reporter took on her new role on Tuesday when her partner Francois Hollande became president, replacing Nicolas Sarkozy. While Sarkozy had earned...
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn struck back this week at the hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault with a sharply worded countersuit claiming defamation, but lawyers say the filing could backfire. Legal experts say Strauss-Kahn‘s lawsuit could give New York maid Nafissatou Diallo‘s attorneys greater freedom...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama pressed Europe on Friday to shift toward a more pro-growth policy and away from austerity to tackle a crisis that threatens to push Greece out of the euro zone and send economic shockwaves worldwide. Setting the tone for a weekend G8 summit, Obama made clear he was aligning...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New French President Francois Hollande told President Barack Obama on Friday that he will stick by his pledge to withdraw France‘s troops from Afghanistan at year’s end, a note of discord in an otherwise convivial first meeting between the two leaders. “I reminded President Obama that I made a promise to...
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian forces on Friday fired on protesters holding the largest opposition marches yet in Aleppo, a sign of rising anti-regime sentiment in the country’s biggest city, which has largely remained supportive of President Bashar Assad throughout the 15-month uprising. The head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria warned that neither...
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council on Friday imposed a travel ban on five leaders of an April 12 military coup in Guinea-Bissau and threatened an arms embargo and financial sanctions if the tiny West African coastal state does not return to civilian rule. The 15-member council “demands that the Military Command...
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The price for staking ground on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue jumped 22 percent in the past year, spurred by a record number of tourists spending their dollars at top U.S. and international retailers on America’s most coveted shopping ground. The asking rent for street-level stores on Fifth Avenue between … ... read...
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The Obama administration may be not be able to strike a long-awaited agreement with Pakistan to help supply Western soldiers in Afghanistan as hoped in time for a major NATO summit in Chicago this weekend, a U.S. official said. “There’s a distinct possibility that we may not see an agreement before...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama pressed Europe on Friday to shift toward a more pro-growth policy and away from austerity to tackle a crisis that threatens to push Greece out of the euro zone and send economic shockwaves worldwide. Setting the tone for a weekend G8 summit, Obama made clear he was...
LONDON (AP) — British officials have given their word: “We won’t read your emails.” But experts say the government‘s proposed new surveillance program will gather so much data that spooks won’t have to read your messages to guess what you’re up to. The U.K. Home Office stresses it won’t be reading the content of...
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) – Yemeni troops killed 10 suspected Islamist militants on the outskirts of the city of Jaar, an army official and residents said on Friday, in a new U.S.-backed offensive meant to reassert control in the south of the country. Residents and a military official said fighting erupted overnight between insurgents and...