Saturday, May 5, 2012

Americans favor limited U.S. role in Afghanistan

Americans favor limited U.S. role in Afghanistan

Americans favor limited U.S. role in Afghanistan

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Troops at Bagram Air Base listen to U.S. President Barack Obama speak during his visit to KabulWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans want U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and oppose a significant long-term commitment to support that nation's economy and security, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Friday. But the poll also indicated that most Americans favor keeping some U.S. forces in Afghanistan to help train that nation's troops, and to continue missions targeting al-Qaeda. Taken together, the findings suggest "Americans essentially want to be done with Afghanistan," said Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson. ...

Clinton heads to Bangladesh after China dissident drama

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner leave the stage of a news conference in BeijingingBEIJING (Reuters) - Leaving behind diplomatic drama over a Chinese dissident, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced a fresh test on Saturday as she moves on to Bangladesh where the disappearance of an opposition leader has fueled growing tensions. Clinton will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her opposition rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, following her arrival late on Saturday, and will also pay a call on Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, whose removal from the pioneering micro-lender Grameen Bank has been criticized by Washington. ...

Explosion in Damascus, casualties unclear-resident, rights group

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - An explosion rocked the central Damascus highway of Sharia al-Thawra on Saturday morning, destroying nearby cars, a resident said, adding that he did not know if there had been any casualties. The Syrian Observatory for Humans Rights, a monitoring organization based in Britain, said two large explosions had been reported by residents in the vicinity but gave no further details.

U.S. drone strike kills nine in Pakistan, officials say

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MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - A U.S. drone aircraft killed nine suspected militants on Saturday in Pakistan's North Waziristan region near the Afghan border, Pakistani security officials said. The controversial drone program, a key element in U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, is highly unpopular in Pakistan where it is considered a violation of sovereignty which causes unacceptable civilian casualties. In Saturday's strike, a drone fired missiles at a compound in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, killing the nine, said the officials who declined to be identified. ...

Senator likely to be rebuffed in News Corp inquiry

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News Corporation Chief Executive and Chairman, Rupert Murdoch, leaves after giving evidence for the second day at the Leveson Inquiry at the High Court in LondonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The British judicial inquiry investigating questionable reporting practices by Rupert Murdoch's media properties is unlikely to cooperate with a prominent senator's request for evidence of misconduct in the United States, three people familiar with the inquiry said. The sources said that the judicial inquiry, created by British Prime Minister David Cameron and chaired by Sir Brian Leveson, a senior English judge, is not authorized to provide legal assistance or evidence to other bodies or organizations, including foreign government agencies or components. ...

Turkey court gives Ferguson time to settle -media

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Sarah Ferguson, Britain's Duchess of York, arrives at a benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New YorkISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court trying British duchess Sarah Ferguson for secretly filming the treatment of mentally handicapped children adjourned after opening on Friday to give time for an out-of-court settlement, Turkish media said. Ferguson, who holds the title Duchess of York as the ex-wife of Britain's Prince Andrew, was not present in court. She signaled when the charges were brought in January that she would not return to face trial. The offences carry a maximum sentence of up to 22 years and six months. ...

Bodies of 23 found dumped near U.S. border in Mexico drug war

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The bodies of 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or dismembered in ice boxes and garbage bags in northeastern Mexico on Friday, in an escalation of brutal violence involving rival drug gangs on the U.S. border. In a first incident, the bodies of five men and four women were found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas state just across the border from the Texas city of Laredo. ...

London win eases Cameron's UK vote setback

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Incumbent London Mayor Johnson watches as Labour candidate Livingstone makes a speech at City Hall in LondonLONDON (Reuters) - Boris Johnson dodged a humiliating nationwide defeat for Prime Minister David Cameron by winning London in local elections that saw voters angry at Britain's economic woes flock to opposition Labour and a right-wing anti-European fringe party. Maverick mayor Johnson's silver-lining win in London was the only good news for Cameron whom local media said had been given a bloody nose by voters upset at spending cuts and Britain's return to recession. ...

Army imposes curfew in Cairo district after clashes

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Security forces throw stones back at protesters near Egypt's Defence MinistryCAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army imposed an overnight curfew around the defense ministry in Cairo on Friday after protesters clashed with troops there during demonstrations against the country's military rulers, leaving one soldier dead and 373 people wounded. The crowd hurled projectiles and insults at the soldiers sent to defend the ministry after 11 people were killed in fighting there on Wednesday, and called for the overthrow of the head of the ruling army council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. ...

9/11 'mastermind' back before Guantanamo judge

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FILE - In this May 13, 2009 file photo reviewed by the U.S. military, the sun rises over the Guantanamo detention facility at dawn, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba. In a speech Thursday, President Barack Obama defended his plans to close the Guantanamo prison camp. Five men accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks, including the self-proclaimed mastermind, are headed back to a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay more than three years after President Barack Obama put the case on hold in a failed effort to move the proceedings to a civilian court and close the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, file)The self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four alleged co-conspirators will appear in public for the first time in more than three years, when U.S. officials start a second attempt at what is likely to be a drawn out legal battle that could lead to the men's executions.

Thousands march as Japan shuts off nuclear power

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In this photo taken April 7, 2012, three reactors, from left, No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, at the Tomari Nuclear Power Plant, operated by Hokkaido Electric Power Co., in Tomari are seen from a port in Iwanai town in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido. Japan will be free of atomic power for the first time since 1966 on Saturday, May 5, when the Tomari No. 3 reactor, the last of its 50 usable reactors, is switched off for regular inspections. The central government would like to restart them at some point, but it's running into strong opposition from local citizens and governments.(AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCEThousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the last of this nation's 50 nuclear reactors switching off Saturday, shaking banners shaped as giant fish that have become a potent anti-nuclear symbol.

Ahmadinejad rivals cement hold on Iran parliament

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Final results for many constituencies in Iran's parliamentary runoff elections show conservative rivals of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winning a solid majority of seats and cementing their hold on the legislature.

Officials: US drone strike kills 8 in Pakistan

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A man who was injured in a suicide bombing in the tribal region of Khar in Bajur, is comforted by relatives, in a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Friday, May 4, 2012. A suicide bombing in a Pakistani market close to the Afghan border killed 20 people Friday, officials said, a day after the U.S. released letters seized from Osama bin Laden's compound that criticized Pakistani militants for killing too many civilians. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)An American drone fired a volley of missiles into a house close to the Afghan border on Saturday, killing eight suspected militants and indicating U.S. resolve to continue with the attacks despite renewed Pakistani opposition, officials said.

London re-elects Boris Johnson as mayor

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FILE This Saturday, May 3, 2008 file photo shows London Mayor-elect Boris Johnson speaking after signing the declaration of acceptance as Mayor of London at London's City Hall. Analysts say it's an Olympic tussle, an election battle to win control of London's City Hall just weeks before thousands of athletes and spectators arrive in Britain's capital for the Summer Games. But local elections being held Thursday May 3, 2012 across Britain, including a vote for London's mayor, could have more far reaching repercussions _ catapulting Boris Johnson, the capital's famously outspoken, but well liked leader, on a path to national power.(AP Photo/Akira Suemori, File)London's comic and outspoken mayor Boris Johnson won re-election Friday, triumphing in a closer-than-expected vote to secure a second term and his status as the unvarnished and unpredictable host of the 2012 Olympics

US, China forge tentative deal on Chinese activist

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A police officer stands guard in the middle of two images featuring blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng during a protest in front of the Chinese central government's liaison in Hong Kong Friday, May 4, 2012. Chen at the center of a diplomatic standoff between the United States and China said Friday his situation is With a series of quickly choreographed steps, the U.S. and China outlined a tentative deal Friday to send a blind legal activist to America for study and potentially bring a face-saving end to a delicate diplomatic crisis.

Egyptian troops, protesters clash in Cairo

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Egyptian security forces, unseen, fire a water cannon at protesters during clashes outside the Ministry of Defense in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, May 4, 2012. Egyptian armed forces and protesters clashed in Cairo on Friday, with troops firing water cannons and tear gas at demonstrators who threw stones as they tried to march on the Defense Ministry, a flashpoint for a new cycle of violence only weeks ahead of presidential elections. (AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa)Egyptian troops blasted protesters with water cannons, tear gas and live ammunition, trying to prevent them from marching on the Defense Ministry Friday in clashes that left one soldier dead and scores of people injured just three weeks ahead of presidential elections.

Egypt's ousted president turns 84 in detention

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Egypt's ousted leader Hosni Mubarak turned 84 on Friday and celebrated his birthday at a Cairo hospital where he is detained, according to a security official and Egyptian daily papers.

Syrian forces kill teen in Aleppo protests

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This image made from amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Friday, May 4, 2012, purports to show Syrians chanting slogans and caring Kurdish flags during a demonstration in Qamishli, the capital of Syria's Kurdish heartland. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIALSyrian forces fired on thousands of protesters Friday in Aleppo, killing a teenager, after a raid on dormitories at the city's main university killed four students and enflamed tensions in a key bastion of support for the regime.

Woman in Secret Service case calls agents 'fools'

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This Friday, May 4, 2012 frame grab taken from the Spanish radio station Cadena SER website shows Dania Londono Suarez during an interview at an undisclosed location. Suarez says she was the woman who triggered the U.S. Secret Service scandal in Colombia. Suárez also says she never would have complained about not being paid by an agent had she known he was part of President Barack Obama's security detail. (AP Photo/Cadena SER)A woman who says she was the prostitute who triggered the U.S. Secret Service scandal in Colombia said Friday that the agents involved were "idiots" for letting it happen, and declared that if she were a spy and sensitive information was available, she could have easily obtained it.
Posted by Harshad at 1:07 AM

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