| China-U.S. deal over dissident sours, Chen fears for life Posted:  BEIJING (Reuters) - Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng appealed to President Barack Obama to help him escape China with his family, telling journalists he feared for his life just hours after leaving the U.S. Embassy under a deal that Washington had hoped would defuse the crisis with Beijing. Chen left the embassy on Wednesday after securing guarantees that, according to U.S. officials, would have allowed him to relocate within the country in safety with his family and pursue his studies. He had been holed up in the embassy for six days after escaping house arrest last month. ...
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| News Corp board supports Murdoch after UK report Posted:  (Reuters) - News Corp's board of directors came out in full support of Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday, some 36 hours after a British parliamentary committee had described him as unfit to run a major international business. "The Board based its vote of confidence on Rupert Murdoch's vision and leadership in building News Corporation, his ongoing performance as Chairman and CEO, and his demonstrated resolve to address the mistakes of the Company identified in the Select Committee's report," the company said in a statement following a board meeting. ...
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| 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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| Suicide bombers kill 7 after Obama leaves Afghan capital Posted:  KABUL (Reuters) - Suicide bombers attacked a compound housing Westerners in Kabul on Wednesday hours after U.S. President Barack Obama signed a security pact during a short visit to a city that remains vulnerable to a resilient insurgency. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack which involved a car bomb and insurgents disguised as women on the eastern outskirts of the capital, killing seven people, a Gurkha guard and six passers-by, and wounding 17. ...
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| Egypt clashes over army rule leave up to 11 dead Posted:  CAIRO (Reuters) - Eleven people were killed in Cairo on Wednesday, medics said, when armed men attacked protesters demanding an end to army rule, prompting several candidates to suspend presidential campaigns and heightening doubts on the transition to democracy. Leaders from Islamist and secular camps blamed the trouble on hired "thugs" doing the bidding of entrenched interests behind military rule and warned the generals not to use it as a pretext to delay their departure; the army reaffirmed its stated commitment to handing power to civilians by July. ...
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| World Bank also aids developed countries: Zoellick Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Wednesday gave an impassioned defense of the institution he has run for five years and urged his successor to focus on developing countries as clients rather than aid recipients. Zoellick said it was in the economic and security interest of rich countries like the United States to continue supporting the World Bank, which provides loans and other assistance to help poor countries to tackle of wide array of problems. ...
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| Obama's top security adviser to travel to Russia Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's top security aide will be in Moscow this week for meetings with Russian officials on the U.S.-Russia relationship and other issues, the White House said on Wednesday. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon's two-day trip comes ahead of a G-8 leaders' summit the United States is hosting this month as well as an expected White House meeting between Obama and Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin. ...
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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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| Libya drops ban on religion-based parties Posted: TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya has dropped a ban against parties based on religion, tribe or ethnicity, an official said, after the law irked Islamist parties in the run up to the first free election in June. The ruling National Transitional Council's judicial committee on Wednesday read out a raft of news laws including an amended version of one governing formation of political parties, making no mention of the ban, which was announced last week. ... |
| U.N. committee sanctions three North Korea companies Posted:  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. Security Council sanctions committee on Wednesday added three North Korean state companies to a U.N. blacklist of firms banned from international trade in response to Pyongyang's rocket launch last month. The decision by the Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee came after China consented to sanctions on the trio of companies. It falls far short of the roughly 40 firms the United States, European Union, South Korea and Japan had wanted to blacklist after Pyongyang's launch. ...
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| Deal undone? Activist now wants to leave China Posted:  The blind Chinese dissident who boldly fled house arrest and placed himself under the wing of U.S. diplomats balked Wednesday at a deal delicately worked out between the two countries to let him live freely in China, saying he now fears for his family's safety unless they are all spirited abroad.
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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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| French presidential candidates face off in debate Posted:  France's presidential race hit a dramatic pitch Wednesday in the only face-to-face debate between President Nicolas Sarkozy and front-running challenger Francois Hollande — a verbal slugfest that broke little new ground on substance but exposed big differences in style.
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| 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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| 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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| Hamas says it's holding talks with 5 EU countries Posted:  Hamas has been holding secret political talks with five European Union member states in recent months, a senior official in the Islamic militant group told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
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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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| Islamists strengthen grip over north Mali Posted:  In one town in northern Mali a man has been whipped for drinking alcohol. In another, pictures of unveiled women have been torn down. In a third, traditional music is no longer heard in the streets.
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| Airstrike kills 15 al-Qaida militants in Yemen Posted: An airstrike Wednesday killed 15 al-Qaida-linked militants in their training camp in the country's south, Yemeni military officials said. The airstrike resembled earlier U.S. drone attacks, but the U.S. did not comment. |
| Israeli ministers: Election won't affect Iran Posted:  Two top Israeli security officials said Wednesday that the prospect of early national elections will have no influence over a decision over whether to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
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