| Obama swoops into Afghanistan on bin Laden death anniversary Posted:  BAGRAM AIRBASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) - President Barack Obama marked the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death with a speedy trip to Afghanistan, signing a strategic pact with Kabul on Wednesday and delivering an election-year message to Americans that the war is winding down. Shortly after arriving under the cover of darkness, Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a strategic partnership agreement at the Afghan leader's palace that sets out a long-term U.S. role in Afghanistan, including aid and advisers. ...
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| Car bomb kills six after Obama leaves Afghan capital Posted:  KABUL (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded outside a compound housing Westerners in Kabul on Wednesday hours after President Barack Obama signed a security pact during a short visit to a city that remains vulnerable to a resilient insurgency. Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on the eastern outskirts of the capital that killed at least six people, a Gurkha guard and five passers-by, and wounded 17. A young girl was among those killed. ...
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| Clinton confronts dissident case ahead of China talks Posted:  BEIJING (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in China on Wednesday for top-level talks that risk being upstaged by the fate of a blind dissident whose supporters say is under U.S. protection in Beijing after escaping house arrest. Washington has not even commented on the whereabouts of the dissident, legal activist Chen Guangcheng, whose plight has overshadowed the Strategic and Economic Dialogue due to begin on Thursday. The United States hopes the talks will encourage greater Chinese cooperation on trade as well over Iran, Syria, North Korea and other international ...
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| Suu Kyi makes historic debut in Myanmar parliament Posted:  NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi took a historic oath on Wednesday to join a parliamentary system crafted by the generals who locked her away for much of her long struggle against dictatorship, ushering in a dramatic new political era. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner's debut in a parliament stacked with uniformed soldiers could accelerate reforms that have already included the most sweeping changes in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup, including the release of political prisoners and a loosening of strict media controls. ...
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| Five killed in clashes near Egypt's Defense Ministry Posted: CAIRO (Reuters) - Five people were killed and more than 100 hurt near Egypt's Defense Ministry when local residents, some armed with guns, attacked protesters demanding an end to army rule, the Health Ministry and a security source said. Many of the demonstrators were supporters of a Salafi sheikh who was disqualified from the presidential election, drawing accusations that the ruling military council was trying to dictate the result in advance. ... |
| North Korea suspected of jamming flight signals in South Posted: SEOUL (Reuters) - More than 250 flights in and out of South Korea have experienced GPS signal jamming since the weekend, with North Korea high on the list of suspects, officials said on Wednesday. Similar jamming in the past was traced to the reclusive North, which last month breached U.S. Security Council resolutions with a failed long-range rocket launch and was blamed for cyber attacks on South Korean financial institutions last year. ... |
| Japan could face "day of reckoning" if tax plans fail: Moody's Posted:  MANILA (Reuters) - Japan could face "the day of reckoning" sooner than expected if the government fails to raise the sales tax and investors demand higher returns on government bonds, Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday, keeping up the pressure on Tokyo to enact tax reform bills. Tom Byrne, senior vice president and regional officer, acknowledged the tax increase would leave Japan facing weaker economic growth but said the country needs to "bite the bullet" and start fixing public finances driven by swelling welfare costs. ...
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| Valencia, a cruel reflection of Spain's economic woes Posted:  VALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) - Once the beacon of Spain's new economic grandeur, the Mediterranean region of Valencia has become a symbol of all that is wrong with the country. Over the last decade, surfing on a property boom, Valencia spent billions hosting the America's Cup sailing competition and the European Grand Prix motor race, launching Hollywood-style movie studios, and building the biggest aquarium in Europe, a Sydney-style opera house and several museums. ...
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| UK lawmakers: Rupert Murdoch unfit to run company Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch is not fit to run a major international company, British lawmakers said on Tuesday, finding him ultimately responsible for the illegal phone hacking that has corroded his global media empire and damaged the political establishment. The lawmakers said the 81-year-old News Corp chief lacked credibility, his son James appeared incompetent and the company was guilty of "willful blindness" towards its staff at the News of the World tabloid. ...
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| Taliban attack in Afghan capital kills at least 6 Posted:  A suicide car bomber and Taliban militants disguised in burqas attacked a compound housing hundreds of foreigners in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, officials and witnesses said. The Taliban said the attack was a response to President Barack Obama's surprise visit just hours earlier.
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| Obama sees 'new day' 1 year after bin Laden raid Posted:  On a swift, secretive trip to the war zone, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday night that after years of sacrifice the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan is winding down just as it has already ended in Iraq. "We can see the light of a new day," he said on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death and in the midst of his own re-election campaign.
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| Myanmar begins new era as Suu Kyi joins parliament Posted:  Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in to Myanmar's military-backed parliament Wednesday, taking public office for the first time since launching her struggle against authoritarian rule nearly a quarter century ago.
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| Human rights showdown awaits Clinton in Beijing Posted:  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived Wednesday in Beijing, where a tense human rights showdown awaits over the fate of a blind Chinese lawyer said to be under U.S. protection after escaping from house arrest.
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| Napolitano: No basis to El Salvador sex claims Posted: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the Secret Service has found no basis to allegations its agents hired strippers and prostitutes in El Salvador last year. |
| Army mortar shells kill 10 in Syrian village Posted:  Syrian forces fired mortar shells into a farming village Tuesday, killing 10 people, among them two young children, and sending panicked residents running for cover, activists said.
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| After 50 years, Cubans hope to travel freely Posted:  After controlling the comings and goings of its people for five decades, communist Cuba appears on the verge of a momentous decision to lift many travel restrictions. One senior official says a "radical and profound" change is weeks away.
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| Blind lawyer strikes a popular chord in China Posted:  The blind activist at the center of a diplomatic tussle between the U.S. and China did not set out to be a dissident. Chen Guangcheng taught himself law to defend the constitutional rights he saw trampled so often.
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| Workers express anger, gloom, elation on May Day Posted:  On the front lines of the world's May Day protests this year, along with the traditional chants, banners and marches, a gamut of emotions flowed through the crowds: Anger. Fear. Elation. Despair.
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| UK lawmakers: Rupert Murdoch unfit to lead company Posted:  A committee of British lawmakers called Rupert Murdoch unfit to run his global media empire — a finding that reflects just how deeply the phone hacking scandal born of his defunct News of the World has shaken the relationship between the press and politics.
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