Clinton heads to China and into dissident drama

---

• Clinton heads to China and into dissident drama
• Exclusive: Bo's wife dressed as Chinese army general after Heywood death: source
• Syria forces kill 10 in mortar attack: rights group
• Greeks to protest austerity at May Day rallies
• U.S., Japan still mulling regional trade pact: Obama
• Suu Kyi's party ends boycott of Myanmar's parliament
• Afghan leaders should raise their game: EU ambassador
• Gunfire, blasts as Nigerian forces raid Islamist base
• China, Russia resist West's sanctions push for Sudan, South Sudan
• Mali junta says "strangers" behind counter-coup
• Israel ex-opposition leader Livni to quit assembly
• Friend: Police note blind activist's escape legal
• 1 year on from OBL raid, no answers from Pakistan
• India ferry capsizes; 103 dead, 100 missing
• Far-flung New Zealand sees risk from boat refugees
• Workers join May Day protests in Manila, elsewhere
• UN chief hails flexibility of Myanmar's Suu Kyi
• Bombs target alcohol businesses in south Lebanon
• Report: Press freedom holds steady worldwide
• Running blind: Chinese activist's dramatic escape

Clinton heads to China and into dissident drama Posted: WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left on Monday on a high-stakes trip to Beijing, where a blind dissident is reportedly holed up in the U.S. embassy in a drama threatening to overshadow top-level meetings between the two governments. Dissident Chen Guangcheng, according to one of his helpers, will demand to stay in China and press on with his campaign for reform, adding to tension between Beijing and Washington that poses risks for both governments as well as to relations between the world's two biggest economies. ...

Exclusive: Bo's wife dressed as Chinese army general after Heywood death: source Posted: BEIJING (Reuters) - A woman at the centre of China's biggest political scandal in two decades, wife of deposed political leader Bo Xilai, had once dressed as a military commander last year in a bizarre episode that shines new light on the collapse of Bo's inner circle. Bo, ambitious former leader of China's biggest municipality Chongqing, was sacked in March after police began investigating his wife, Gu Kailai, on suspicion of murdering a former family friend, British businessman Neil Heywood, in a row over money. ...

Syria forces kill 10 in mortar attack: rights group Posted: BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces fired mortar bombs at a village in the northern province of Idlib on Tuesday, killing 10 people, nine of them from the same family, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based monitoring group said two of the dead were children. Many others were wounded, some of them critically, it added. The shelling marks another violation of a shaky U.N.-brokered truce, which has already been marred by sporadic clashes and a string of explosions in the capital, Damascus, last week and central Idlib on Monday. ...

Greeks to protest austerity at May Day rallies Posted: ATHENS (Reuters) - Thousands of Greek workers were expected to protest austerity cuts as part of annual May Day rallies on Tuesday, days before a national election that risks derailing an international bailout keeping Greece afloat. Greece's two major private and public sector unions GSEE and ADEDY plan to hold a rally in Athens to mark the national holiday, while the Communist-affiliated PAME group was also scheduled to hold a separate rally. ...

U.S., Japan still mulling regional trade pact: Obama Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama voiced support on Monday for Japan joining talks with the United States and eight other countries on a free trade agreement in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, but said no final decision had been made. "We instructed our teams to continue our consultation regarding Japan's interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would benefit both our economies and the region," Obama said at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. ...

Suu Kyi's party ends boycott of Myanmar's parliament Posted: YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi agreed on Monday to end her party's boycott of parliament, setting aside her first major dispute with the government since winning by-elections and clearing the way for what could be an acceleration of reforms. Suu Kyi and her party will make their historic debut in the assembly on Wednesday after backing down over the wording of an oath. She agreed to swear to protect a constitution drafted under military control that she says is undemocratic. ...

Afghan leaders should raise their game: EU ambassador Posted: KABUL (Reuters) - Just after news broke that U.S. special forces had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the top EU diplomat in neighboring Afghanistan received a flood of emails from jubilant Afghans. The death of the al Qaeda leader a year ago raised hopes in Kabul, Brussels, Washington and elsewhere that a devastating blow had been dealt to Islamist militancy in one of the most unstable regions in the world. On the eve of the first anniversary of Bin Laden's killing, Vygaudas Usackas, the European Union's ambassador to Kabul, reflected on how that optimism had faded. ...

Gunfire, blasts as Nigerian forces raid Islamist base Posted: KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunfire and explosions rang out through Nigeria's main northern city of Kano on Tuesday as Nigerian forces battled Islamist militants in a raid on one of their hideouts, witnesses and the military said. Residents of the Sabuwar Gandu area of Kano awoke to several loud blasts and a raging gun battle. There were no immediate reports of casualty figures. "Our men just raided one of the hideouts of the elements ... where we discovered explosives and weapons," said a spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Kano, Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi. ...

China, Russia resist West's sanctions push for Sudan, South Sudan Posted: UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China and Russia are resisting a Western push for the U.N. Security Council to threaten Sudan and South Sudan with sanctions if the two countries fail to comply with demands to halt their escalating conflict, U.N. envoys said. The U.N. negotiations on Sudan and South Sudan, former civil war foes that split when the south seceded last year, follow weeks of border fighting that have raised fears Khartoum and Juba could launch an all-out war, after failing to resolve a string of disputes over oil revenues and border demarcation. ...

Mali junta says "strangers" behind counter-coup Posted: BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's military junta said on Tuesday it remained in control of key sites in and around the capital after an attempted counter-coup backed by foreigners, according to a message aired over state television. "Elements from abroad, supported by some obscure forces within the country, carried out these attacks. Some of them have been arrested," a junta officer said in the television message. ...

Israel ex-opposition leader Livni to quit assembly Posted: A confidant says Israel's recently ousted opposition leader Tzipi Livni plans to quit parliament but will remain active in politics.

Friend: Police note blind activist's escape legal Posted: A friend of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng says police have acknowledged to him that Chen did not break any laws by escaping from house arrest and apparently entering the U.S. Embassy.

1 year on from OBL raid, no answers from Pakistan Posted: One year since U.S. commandos flew into this Pakistani army town and killed Osama bin Laden, Islamabad has failed to answer tough questions over whether its security forces were protecting the world's most wanted terrorist.

India ferry capsizes; 103 dead, 100 missing Posted: Army divers and rescue workers pulled 103 bodies out of a river after a packed ferry capsized in heavy winds and rain in remote northeast India, an official said Tuesday.

Far-flung New Zealand sees risk from boat refugees Posted: New Zealand may be one of the most geographically isolated nations on Earth, but its leaders say the country is not immune to the risks of refugees arriving by boat.

Workers join May Day protests in Manila, elsewhere Posted: Thousands of workers marched under a brutal sun in the Philippine capital on Tuesday and called for pay hikes, as May Day protesters throughout Asia demanded increases in wages that they say have not kept up with rising consumer prices.

UN chief hails flexibility of Myanmar's Suu Kyi Posted: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has praised Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for supporting her country's path to democracy by making a political compromise.

Bombs target alcohol businesses in south Lebanon Posted: Zahi Zeidan vows he won't back down as he stands in his bomb-shattered restaurant and oversees workers carrying debris out of dining rooms where on a good night patrons are usually drinking and dancing.

Report: Press freedom holds steady worldwide Posted: As decades-old authoritarian regimes crumbled or eased their grip in countries as widespread as Myanmar, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, freedom of the press gained precarious new footholds last year, according to a survey by a watchdog group released Tuesday.

Running blind: Chinese activist's dramatic escape Posted: Chen Guangcheng's blindness was a help and a hindrance as he made his way past the security cordon ringing his farmhouse.

You are subscribed to email updates from World News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610