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Blind Chinese activist leaves Beijing for U.S.
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 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 subsequent stay in the U.S. embassy caused huge embarrassment for China and led to a diplomatic rift while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was visiting Beijing for talks to improve ties between the world's two biggest economies. The U.S. ...
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T19:17:07Z |
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Syria bomb kills 9, Damascus blames foreign plot
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 BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed nine people at a Syrian military post in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday, an attack the government said was the latest proof that an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad was a foreign plot. The official SANA news agency said the blast had been the work of a suicide bomber, and had also wounded about 100 people, including guards, at what it called military installations. International pressure and an U.N.-backed peace plan has failed to quell Syria's turmoil. ...
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T18:58:42Z |
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G8, raising pressure on Iran, puts oil stocks on standby
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 CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of Eight major economies raised the pressure on Iran on Saturday, signaling their readiness to tap into emergency oil stockpiles quickly this summer if tougher new sanctions on Tehran threaten to strain supplies. In unusually blunt language, the G8 put the International Energy Agency -- the West's energy advisor responsible for coordinating reserves -- on standby for action. It was the clearest sign yet that U.S. President Barack Obama is winning support for tapping government-held oil stocks for the second time in two years. ...
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T18:38:00Z |
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Yemen clashes kill 34 militants, soldiers: officials
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| 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 southern city of Jaar, held by Islamist militants, who have stepped up their campaign during months of political turmoil. Government troops, backed by U.S. ... |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T15:53:47Z |
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Bomb at Italian school kills teenage girl, wounds 10
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| BRINDISI, Italy (Reuters) - A 16-year-old girl was killed in southern Italy by a bomb that exploded in front of her school before classes on Saturday in an unprecedented attack that wounded 10 others, one seriously. Officials initially suggested a local mafia group was the main suspect, but investigators later said the rudimentary nature of the bomb and the targeting of an all-girls secondary school did not point toward organized crime. There was no claim of responsibility. ... |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T17:18:41Z |
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Vote in Libya's Benghazi tests support for autonomy
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 BENGHAZI (Reuters) - People in Libya's second biggest city, Benghazi, voted on Saturday in a local election that will test support for a proposal to set up autonomous rule for eastern Libya. Benghazi was the cradle of last year's revolt which overthrew Muammar Gaddafi but it is also the home of a movement which, frustrated with the new national rulers, wants to turn Libya into a federal state with autonomous provinces. Supporters of autonomy for Cyrenaica, the eastern province that includes Benghazi, were running in the election to choose a new city council. ...
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T19:12:43Z |
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Motorcycle bomber kills 10 in eastern Afghanistan
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| 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 Afghanistan after foreign combat troops leave by the end of 2014. "The bomber blew himself up in a crowded market and it was powerful," said Sardar Mohammad Zazai, police chief of eastern Khost province. ... |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T15:34:33Z |
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Greece confirms June 17 election date
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| 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 the parliament's press office. The statement said President Karolos Papoulias had dissolved the parliament elected on May 6, two days after it was convened. The date of the new election was released last week but was not official until Papoulias issued Saturday's decree. ... |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T10:11:10Z |
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Bahrain, Qatar, UAE urge citizens to stay away from Lebanon
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| 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 favorite destination for wealthy Gulf tourists - to leave because of the "security situation" in the country, the official news agencies BNA, QNA and WAM reported. Heavy fighting has rocked Lebanon's northern port of Tripoli in the past week. ... |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T14:29:40Z |
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Thousands march in Frankfurt against austerity measures
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 FRANKFURT (Reuters) - At least 20,000 demonstrators marched through Frankfurt on Saturday in a peaceful protest against austerity measures implemented to tackle the intensifying euro zone debt crisis. Police closed off main roads in the centre of Frankfurt and set up check points on highways around the city as part of a heavy security operation to protect Germany's financial capital. ...
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T13:59:04Z |
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G-8 leaders hope Greece remains in eurozone
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 President Barack Obama and other leaders of the Group of Eight industrial nations expressed hope Saturday that Greece will remain in the eurozone as they huddled for a shirt-sleeves summit aimed at keeping Europe's economic troubles from multiplying and spreading around the world.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T18:39:57Z |
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Chinese activist who fled house arrest heads to US
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 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.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T18:37:40Z |
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World leaders confront flagging Afghan war
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 It was what President Barack Obama called a "war of necessity," a conflict thrust upon America by the 9/11 attacks. As NATO's mission here winds down nearly 11 years later, the insurgents remain undefeated, corruption runs rife and the peace process is stuck in the sand.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T15:02:34Z |
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Suicide blast in Syria hits military compound
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 A car bomb tore through the parking lot of a military compound in an eastern Syrian city on Saturday, killing nine people in the latest in a series of blasts in recent months targeting security installations, the country's state media reported.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T14:54:35Z |
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Suicide blast kills 13 in eastern Afghanistan
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| A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint Saturday in a volatile area of eastern Afghanistan, killing 13 people, police said. |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T13:59:30Z |
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Thousands mark 'Red Shirt' crackdown in Bangkok
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 Buddhist monks led prayers as tens of thousands gathered Saturday in Bangkok to mark the second anniversary of deadly clashes between soldiers and "Red Shirt" protesters.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T12:57:46Z |
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Echoes of Eurozone crisis at NATO meeting
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 The NATO meeting in Chicago is a chance for alliance leaders to proclaim solidarity and promise success. But the two-day gathering that begins Sunday probably won't resolve the underlying anxiety about sharing the burdens of defense, a concern heightened by Europe's economic crisis and America's growing weariness at carrying the heaviest load.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T12:57:19Z |
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7 charged with terror crimes in Real IRA crackdown
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| Seven Irish republicans, including three relatives of a senior reputed Real IRA member and four others allegedly operating a forest rifle range, were arraigned Saturday on terror charges following a security sweep against militants plotting to sabotage Northern Ireland's peace process. |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T14:15:39Z |
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Electric car network gets first test in Israel
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 Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi has begun rolling out the world's first nationwide electric car network. Now, will the drivers come?
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T12:37:53Z |
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Afghan security issues weighed at NATO summit
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| A look at Afghan security issues to be discussed at the NATO summit in Chicago. |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T15:02:58Z |
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