| Chinese dissident seeks exile, strains U.S.-China ties Posted:  BEIJING (Reuters) - Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng appealed on Thursday for asylum in the United States, throwing into doubt an agreement used to coax him out of hiding in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and fanning U.S.-China tensions at a sensitive time. The standoff appears particularly troublesome for the Obama administration, with Chen saying he now fears for his and his family's safety if he stays in China, as was planned under the deal that Washington called a good outcome for the dissident. ...
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| Clinton urges China to help on Iran, North Korea Posted:  BEIJING (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged China on Thursday to help defuse tension over Iran, North Korea and other global flashpoints, seeking to salvage talks that have been overwhelmed by negotiations over a dissident. In her opening remarks to the two-day U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Clinton pressed China on human rights but avoided mention of Chen Guangcheng, a blind rights activist who sought protection in the U.S. embassy until he left under a deal to stay in China - a deal he later said he regretted. ...
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| Britain's Osborne hits out as EU bank capital talks stall Posted:  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain's George Osborne accused fellow EU finance ministers of trying to water down Europe's bank capital rules and said this would make him "look like an idiot", as talks about a law to stop another financial crisis unraveled in Brussels. In remarks at the negotiating table, Osborne, who says he wants much tougher controls to avoid a repeat of the current crisis, fumed that regulation being discussed could dent the credibility of Europe and harm London, its top financial centre. ...
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| China sturdy enough for reforms: Geithner Posted:  BEIJING (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said China is strong enough to handle the economic and financial reforms that the United States seeks. Geithner, who is in Beijing with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for annual talks with Beijing, said firms in both countries must compete on a level playing field in order for global trade to thrive. But the talks risk being upstaged by the case of blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who left protective cover in the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday after having sought refuge there following his escape from 19 months of house arrest. ...
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| Israel heading for September poll, Netanyahu leads field Posted:  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is expected to hold early elections on September 4 after the ruling Likud party submitted a bill to dissolve parliament, with opinion polls on Thursday giving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a clear lead. Although a national vote was not due until 2013, tensions within Netanyahu's rightist coalition over domestic issues, such as military draft for ultra-orthodox Jews, have convinced the prime minister to push for a pre-emptive ballot. ...
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| China, Japan, South Korea to boost investment in each others' bonds Posted:  MANILA (Reuters) - China, Japan and South Korea agreed on Thursday to boost cross-investment in government bond markets, worth nearly a combined $15 trillion, in a move that will better prepare the countries to protect their financial markets from external shocks. The three economic powers sought a formal agreement, a rare one on securities investment, to ease mutual concerns about possibly massive cross-border fund flows and because their capital markets are at different levels of development. ...
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| Syria accused of war crimes, rebels kill 15 Posted:  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels killed 15 members of the security forces in an ambush on Wednesday, a monitoring group said, and a human rights organization accused Damascus of war crimes in last month's run-up to a U.N.-brokered truce. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been tracking the 14-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, said two rebel militiamen also died in clashes that followed the ambush in the northern province of Aleppo. ...
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| Analysis: Tuareg uprising in Mali threatens neighbor Niger Posted: TCHINTABARADEN, Niger (Reuters) - In the weeks since a sudden Tuareg revolt split Mali in two, officials in neighboring Niger have been desperate to stop the Sahara uprising from spreading across their border. If history is a guide, Niger has reason to be nervous. Since the first of several uprisings nearly a century ago by the indigo-turbaned nomads - who live in the vast desert spanning northern Mali and Niger - both countries have tended to be simultaneous battlegrounds. ... |
| Sarkozy fails to down Hollande in French vote duel Posted:  PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande clashed repeatedly in their only television debate but the conservative incumbent failed to land a knockout blow to shake his challenger's lead for Sunday's runoff. Hollande, ahead in opinion polls by six to 10 points, seemed calm and unflappable during the nearly three-hour debate on Wednesday while Sarkozy, struggling to catch up with the moderate social democrat, was often agitated and tense. ...
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| US says it's still trying to help Chinese activist Posted:  U.S. officials said Thursday they are still trying to help a blind Chinese activist who says he fears for his family's safety, and denied he was pressured to leave the American Embassy to resettle inside China.
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| Philippines erects wall to obscure view of slums Posted:  Delegates attending an international conference in the Philippines capital may not see what they came to discuss: abject poverty.
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| Bombs kill 5 people in northwest Pakistan Posted: A Pakistani official says two bomb blasts targeting anti-Taliban tribal elders and security forces have killed five people in the country's northwest. |
| Hollande stands firm in French presidential debate Posted:  French President Nicolas Sarkozy failed to deliver a knockout blow against leftist front-runner Francois Hollande in their only head-to-head debate in France's presidential campaign, the last major hurdle just four days before Sunday's election finale.
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| Fierce clashes stoke tensions ahead of Egypt vote Posted:  Egypt's worst violence in months escalated the confrontation between political forces and the ruling military ahead of a landmark presidential election, as suspected army supporters attacked mainly Islamist protesters outside the Defense Ministry Wednesday, sparking clashes that left at least 11 people dead.
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| Eurozone unemployment hits record high Posted:  The 17 countries that use the euro are facing the highest unemployment rates in the history of the currency as recession once again spreads across Europe, pressuring leaders to focus less on austerity and more on stimulating growth.
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| Ex-junta prisoner, Suu Kyi takes office in Myanmar Posted:  Aung San Suu Kyi capped a tenacious, decades-long journey from political prisoner to office holder in long-repressed Myanmar as the country's main opposition party moved its struggle for democratic rule inside government for the first time.
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| Murdoch, politicians under pressure after report Posted:  Not fit to run a major company. It is a damning judgment on Rupert Murdoch, a threat to his British assets — and a headache for Britain's government.
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| Nepal PM to form new consensus government Posted: In a last-ditch effort to finish years of work on Nepal's new constitution, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai will dissolve his Cabinet and form a new coalition government that includes members of the main opposition parties, an aide said Thursday. |
| US-Afghan pact achieved despite Karzai's rhetoric Posted:  Afghanistan's president has branded his U.S. allies as corrupt, wasteful and contemptuous of Afghan lives. Once he even threatened to join the Taliban. Nonetheless, Hamid Karzai signed a deal that could keep thousands of U.S. troops in his country for years.
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