| China says dissident may apply to study in U.S. Posted:  BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Friday that blind dissident Chen Guangcheng could apply to study abroad, a move praised by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and suggesting an end may be near to a diplomatic standoff between Beijing and Washington. But rights activists sounded a note of caution, saying Beijing could move slowly on granting Chen permission to leave out of fear that appearing soft might embolden other challengers to Communist Party rule before a power handover late this year. ...
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| Senator likely to be rebuffed in News Corp inquiry Posted:  WASHINGTON (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. ...
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| U.S. doesn't expect Pakistan to reopen Afghan war supply routes soon Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the Taliban kicks off its spring fighting season in Afghanistan, an agreement with Pakistan that would help NATO supply its troops there could be weeks or months away, forcing military leaders to spend two-and-a-half times as much to ship some supplies through Central Asia. The Obama administration remains locked in negotiations with Pakistan to reopen the key supply routes into Afghanistan, and officials do not expect talks bogged down over proposed tariffs and U.S. military assistance to reach resolution anytime soon. ...
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| Syrian forces kill five in Damascus, Aleppo protests Posted:  DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian forces killed at least five people on Friday when they fired at demonstrations calling for the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, activists said. The shootings occurred despite a three-week-old ceasefire agreement aimed at ending 14 months of bloodshed in Syria, part of a wider peace plan that international mediator Kofi Annan's spokesman said was still "on track". ...
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| Turkey court gives Ferguson time to settle -media Posted:  ISTANBUL (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. ...
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| Bodies of 23 found dumped near U.S. border in Mexico drug war Posted: 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. ... |
| Armenia campaign rally blast hurts 144-officials Posted:  YEREVAN (Reuters) - More than 140 people were hurt at a campaign rally in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Friday, when hundreds of small balloons went up in flames, burning people and sparking panic, two days before an election, an emergency official said. Gas-filled balloons appeared to have exploded after being ignited by a cigarette at the rally, staged by the ruling Republican Party in Republic Square in the centre of Yerevan, local media said. "I heard an explosion and saw flames rising high," said a 30-year-old woman who identified herself as Susan. ...
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| Army imposes curfew in Cairo district after clashes Posted:  CAIRO (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. ...
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| Greek euro membership at stake in poll: Socialists Posted:  (Reuters) - Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos told voters on Friday that Greece may have to abandon the euro if they fail to support him in Sunday's general election. His last appeal before the poll echoed a stark warning by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said earlier that Greece's next government must abide by the commitments Athens made in exchange for a 130 billion euro international bailout or "bear the consequences". ...
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| Khamenei factions look set to dominate in Iran vote Posted:  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranians voted on Friday in a run-off parliamentary election in which allies of hardline Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hoped to complete victory over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a conservative increasingly criticized by the clerical elite. Khamenei's expected majority is likely to mean a tougher final year for Ahmadinejad in his second and last term. ...
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| Boris Johnson re-elected mayor of London Posted:  London's rumpled, comic and often outright offensive Boris Johnson has been declared the winner of a surprisingly close mayoral race in the British capital.
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| US, China forge tentative deal on Chinese activist Posted:  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.
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| Egyptian troops, protesters clash in Cairo Posted:  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.
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| Egypt's ousted president turns 84 in detention Posted: 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. |
| Suicide bombing in Pakistani market kills 20 Posted:  A teenager blew himself up near a Pakistani market close to the Afghan border Friday, killing 20 people, officials said. The suicide bombing came a day after the U.S. released letters seized from Osama bin Laden's compound that criticized Pakistani militants for killing too many civilians.
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| Syrian forces kill teen in Aleppo protests Posted:  Syrian 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.
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| Woman in Secret Service case calls agents 'fools' Posted:  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.
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| New French accusations: Strauss-Kahn in Washington Posted:  French investigators are studying accusations that Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have been involved in a rape during a sex party in a Washington hotel in 2010 while he was chief of the International Monetary Fund, a judicial official said Friday.
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| Leaders fall in Europe crisis: Sarkozy next? Posted:  French President Nicolas Sarkozy is widely expected to be kicked out of office in elections Sunday. If he goes, he'll be in good company: Almost every crisis-hit European country that has held an election since disaster struck in 2009 has thrown out its leader.
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| Ahmadinejad rivals ahead in parliamentary runoff Posted:  Early returns in Iran's parliamentary runoff elections Friday showed conservative rivals of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad leading in many constituencies in the vote that was billed as an endorsement of the country's controversial nuclear program.
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