| Short party for Hollande after French election win Posted:  PARIS (Reuters) - Francois Hollande faces a short honeymoon after his election as France's first left-wing president in 17 years, with financial markets eager for clear signals on his policies and how hard he plans to push back against German-led austerity. The moderate Socialist beat conservative Nicolas Sarkozy with 51.7 percent of Sunday's runoff vote after a bruising campaign dominated by the same anger over economic crisis that has felled 10 other European leaders since late 2009. ...
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| Greek conservatives begin hunt for partners after vote Posted:  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's conservative leader begins a frantic hunt on Monday for partners to forge a coalition that protects the country's place in the euro zone after angry voters rejected the two ruling parties for imposing harsh wage and spending cuts. With counting from Sunday's vote almost complete, conservative New Democracy and Socialist PASOK, who are the only major parties supporting an EU/IMF bailout program that keeps Greece afloat, had won just over 32 percent of the vote and only 149 out of 300 parliament seats. ...
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| Pakistan dragging its feet on Mumbai mastermind: Clinton Posted:  KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday that Pakistan had not taken enough action against Hafiz Saeed, the Islamist blamed for masterminding the 2008 attack by Pakistan-based gunmen on Mumbai, India's financial capital. India has repeatedly called on Pakistan to bring Saeed to justice, an issue that has stood in the way of rebuilding relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors since the carnage in Mumbai, where gunmen killed 166 people over three days. ...
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| Putin to be sworn in as president of divided Russia Posted:  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin will be sworn in as Russia's president at a glittering ceremony on Monday, hours after clashes between police and protesters laid bare the deep divisions over his return to the Kremlin for six more years. The former KGB spy will take his oath before nearly 2,000 guests in the Kremlin's St Andrew Hall, the former throne room with sparkling chandeliers, gilded pillars and high Gothic vaults, before being blessed by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and taking charge of the nuclear suitcase. ...
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| U.S. secretly released prisoners in Afghanistan: report Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has been secretly releasing detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan as part of negotiations with insurgent groups, the Washington Post reported in its Monday editions. The "strategic release" program has allowed American officials over the past several years to use prisoners as bargaining chips to reduce violence in restive provinces, it said, citing U.S. officials who it said spoke on condition of anonymity. The freed detainees are often fighters who would not be released under the legal system for military prisoners in Afghanistan. ... |
| China dissident Chen expects Beijing to allow U.S. trip Posted:  Blind Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng said on Monday he expected Beijing to let him and his family travel to the United States without fresh troubles, but he remained unsure of how long it would take for his travel arrangements to be made. In a brief telephone interview with Reuters, Chen said he was still in a Beijing hospital undergoing checks, which identified an intestinal problem as enteritis or chronic inflammation from an apparent infection. Some of his supporters had voiced fears that he was suffering from cancer. ...
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| U.S. hostage urges Obama to meet al Qaeda demands Posted: DUBAI (Reuters) - An American aid worker abducted by al Qaeda in Pakistan last year has pleaded with President Barack Obama to meet his captors' demands for the release of prisoners in order to save his life, in a video released by the militant group's media arm. The SITE monitoring service, which follows al Qaeda's statements, quoted Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped in the central Pakistani city of Lahore last August, appealing to Obama to "accept and respond to the mujahideen". "My life is in your hands, Mr. President. ... |
| Clinton says India needs to do more on Iranian oil imports Posted:  KOLKATA (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped up pressure on ally India on Monday to further reduce its Iranian oil imports, making clear Washington wanted to see further action before granting New Delhi a waiver from U.S. financial sanctions. Iran is the second-largest supplier of crude to the energy-hungry country. Publicly, India has rejected Western sanctions but privately it has pushed local refiners to start cutting imports of oil from Iran by 15-20 percent. The issue has become an irritant in ties between the two allies. India is unwilling to be seen to be bowing to ...
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| Heavy fighting rocks eastern Syria ahead of poll Posted:  AMMAN (Reuters) - Fighting between rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's forces erupted in an oil producing province in eastern Syria, residents and activists said on Sunday, the eve of a parliamentary election the authorities say shows reforms are under way. Rebels armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked tank positions in the east of the provincial capital Deir al-Zor, in response to an army offensive against towns and villages in the tribal area bordering Iraq that has killed tens of people and stopped others reaching supplies and medical care, they said. ...
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| Netanyahu seeks September Israel election Posted:  TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he supported holding an early general election in four months' time, a ballot polls say could strengthen his hand as Israel confronts Iran's nuclear ambitions. The next national vote was not due until October 2013, but new legislation that might force ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the military and an upcoming budget debate have threatened to unravel a governing coalition of religious and nationalist parties once seen as one of the most stable in Israel's history. ...
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| Flashy, fiery Sarkozy fades from French scene Posted:  When Nicolas Sarkozy bounded up the steps of France's presidential palace in jogging shorts and shoes on his first day in office five years ago, many French instantly sensed they were in for something new.
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| Clinton presses India to cut oil imports from Iran Posted:  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged energy-starved India on Monday to reduce its Iranian oil imports to keep up pressure on the Islamic republic to come clean about its nuclear program.
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| Greek election impasse heralds lengthy instability Posted:  Bailout-reliant Greece faces days, possibly weeks, of political instability after voters angry at crippling income cuts punished mainstream politicians, let a far-right extremist group into Parliament but gave no party enough votes to govern alone.
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| Syria holds parliament vote; opposition boycotts Posted: Syria is holding parliamentary elections touted by the regime as a show of President Bashar Assad's willingness to pursue political reform. |
| Mexican front-runner fends off debate attacks Posted:  The front-runner in Mexico's presidential race fended off rivals' attempts to paint him as a liar with corrupt backers, emerging from the first of two debates with analysts saying his large lead appeared safe.
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| Israeli PM to propose Sept. 4 as election date Posted:  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his Likud Party is going to propose Sept. 4 as the date for early elections.
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| Taliban militants behead 2 Pakistani soldiers Posted: Taliban militants beheaded two Pakistani soldiers and hung their heads from wooden poles in a town in the country's northwest on Monday, a day after they killed nine soldiers in an ambush there, officials said. |
| Nepal flood death toll rises to 17; 47 missing Posted:  Rescuers searching through mud and debris for flash-flood victims in northwestern Nepal had found 17 bodies by Monday, police said. Another 47 people, including three Ukrainian tourists, were missing and presumed dead.
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| France gets new leader, Europe new direction Posted:  France handed the presidency Sunday to leftist Francois Hollande, a champion of government stimulus programs who says the state should protect the downtrodden — a victory that could deal a death blow to the drive for austerity that has been the hallmark of Europe in recent years.
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| What French election result means for US, world Posted:  French voters chose Socialist Francois Hollande as their new president Sunday in a race that will have implications for Europe's debt crisis, the Afghanistan war and global diplomacy.
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