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Blind Chinese activist appears to have left 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. ...
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T11:34:44Z |
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Nine killed by Syria car bomb, 100 wounded: agency
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| BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb that rocked the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday killed nine people and wounded about 100, the official SANA news agency said. It said the bombing was carried out by a suicide bomber and that the dead included guards at a military installation which is near a housing complex. (Writing by Joseph Logan; Editing by Louise Ireland) |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T10:19:17Z |
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G8 leaders broadly united on Iran and Syria: U.S. official
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 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 Hollande and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, also stressed North Korea needed to adhere to international norms on nuclear issues and said it would face more isolation if it "continues down the path of provocation," the official said. ...
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T04:34:19Z |
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Bomb at south Italy school kills teenager, wounds six
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| 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 pupils were preparing to enter the school at the start of the school day, which in Italy includes Saturdays. ... |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T09:58:19Z |
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Europe's economic woes dominate G8 gathering
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 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 Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, Obama and leaders from other large economic powers will try to forge a common approach to tackling a crisis that threatens the future of Europe's 17-nation single currency. ...
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T09:14:15Z |
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Chinese entities world's biggest economic spies: Pentagon
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| 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 was spreading a "China military threat" theory. ... |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T12:03:09Z |
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Turkish civilian killed in attack by Kurdish rebels
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| 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 a remote area in Hakkari province, the sources said. The three wounded workers were being treated in hospital on Saturday, they said. They had been building the station in the wooded, mountainous area near the village of Yesilova. ... |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T10:31:30Z |
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Police detain 400 "Blockupy" activists in Frankfurt
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 FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German police said they detained 400 anti-capitalist protesters in Frankfurt on Friday for defying a ban on demonstrations against austerity policies implemented to tackle the intensifying euro zone debt crisis. The demonstration in the German financial capital was part of a four-day-long "Blockupy" protest, due to run until Saturday, against capitalism and austerity measures. "Hungry? Eat a banker," read one banner protesters held up outside the Messeturm skyscraper housing Goldman Sachs' offices. Reuters' Frankfurt office is also in the building. ...
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T10:04:00Z |
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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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Seven charged in major roundup of Irish militant suspects
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| LISBURN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Seven Irish nationalists have been charged in Northern Ireland of involvement in militant activity, three under a rarely used law against "directing terrorism," in one of the highest profile roundups of its kind in the province in recent years. Five were charged on Friday and two more on Saturday of offences including conspiracy to murder and cause explosions and the preparation of terrorist acts, police said, following a joint operation with security services. ... |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T11:42:12Z |
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Blind Chinese activist leaves for US
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 A blind Chinese activist was hurriedly taken from a hospital Saturday and boarded a plane that took off for the United States, closing a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle that had tested U.S.-China relations.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T11:03:37Z |
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Syria: Suicide vehicle bomb hits military compound
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 A suicide vehicle 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 : 2012-05-19T12:18:51Z |
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G-8 leaders put focus on European financial crisis
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 Drawn together in this serene mountain outpost, leaders of the major industrialized nations are prodding Germany to balance its push for European fiscal austerity with doses of stimulus spending to avoid an economic calamity that could reverberate worldwide.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T09:24:46Z |
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Echoes of Eurozone crisis at NATO meeting
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 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, a concern heightened by Europe's economic crisis and America's growing weariness at carrying the heaviest load.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T08:12:35Z |
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Divided but peaceful 2 years after Thai violence
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 Just two years ago, Thailand was at war with itself. Rifle shots and exploding grenades rang out in Bangkok as troops crushed through barricades to disperse a nine-week-old insurrection. A retired nurse was the last to capitulate.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T05:09:44Z |
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Student killed, 7 hurt in blast near Italy school
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 A bomb exploded outside a high school in southern Italy named after a slain anti-Mafia prosecutor as students arrived for class Saturday, killing a teenage girl and wounding several other classmates, officials said.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T11:13:31Z |
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73-year-old Japanese woman scales Mount Everest
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 A 73-year-old Japanese woman climbed to Mount Everest's peak Saturday, smashing her own record to again become the oldest woman to scale the world's highest mountain.
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T06:42:25Z |
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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 : 2012-05-19T10:20:34Z |
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Canada pleased with Chinese smuggler's sentence
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| 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. |
| Date Posted : 2012-05-19T03:58:00Z |
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UK surveillance program could expose private lives
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 British officials have given their word: "We won't read your emails."
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| Date Posted : 2012-05-18T21:00:41Z |
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