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Blind Chinese activist Chen arrives in New York
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng arrived in the United States on Saturday and declared "equality and justice have no boundaries" after China let him leave a Beijing hospital to quell a sensitive diplomatic rift between the two countries. Chen escaped from house arrest in northeastern China last month and sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, embarrassing China and creating an uncomfortable backdrop for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to improve ties between the world's two biggest economies. ...
NATO leaders seek common path out of Afghanistan
CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO leaders gather in Chicago on Sunday for a summit that will chart a path out of Afghanistan, as Western nations seek to fend off fissures in their alliance and ensure Afghanistan can hold a still-potent Taliban at bay when foreign troops withdraw. President Barack Obama hosts the summit in his home town, Chicago, a day after leaders of major industrialized nations tackled Europe's debt crisis, backing keeping Greece in the euro zone and vowing to take steps necessary to revitalize the world economy. ...
Strong quake hits North Italy,at least four dead
BONDENO, Italy (Reuters) - A strong earthquake rocked a large swathe of northern Italy early on Sunday, killing at least four people, injuring dozens and seriously damaging historic buildings such as churches, bell towers and a mediaeval castle. The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey recorded at magnitude 6.0, struck at 4:04 a.m. (0204 GMT) while most people were sleeping, and thousands ran into the streets in their night clothes in panic. "I ran out in my underwear," one man told Italian television. ...
Russia forces kill two suspected militants in Dagestan raid
MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) - Russian security forces killed two suspected militants in a gunfight at a private house in its restive North Caucasus province of Dagestan, Interfax reported on Sunday, quoting local authorities. Police stormed the house in a village near Khasavyurt, a town about 80 km (50 miles) west of the provincial capital of Makhachkala. Two unidentified gunmen were killed in a shootout with security forces, a local law enforcement official said. "They opened fire in response to calls for surrender," the official was quoted as saying. ...
Analysis: Post-war Ivory Coast nurtures second "miracle"
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - From his lagoon-side allotment in Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan, Moussa Yanda has a ringside seat to watch the foundations of a $290-million toll bridge slowly rise up from the shore. "I love watching it," enthused the softly-spoken 45-year-old as he packed up his garden tools for the day. "When things are developing, we realize we're going to make it through this." Little over a year ago such optimism was scarce. ...
Iraqi Kurdistan to push ahead with oil export plan
ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region said on Sunday it expects to start exporting its crude oil production along a new pipeline to the Turkish border by August 2013, defying Baghad in a long-running dispute over who should control the country's oil exports. The Kurdistan region, which has its own government and armed forces, has already clashed with Iraq's central government and halted its oil exports in April after accusing Baghdad of not remitting payments due. ...
Mali coup leader backs transition president
BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's caretaker president Dioncounda Traore will have his mandate extended beyond a 40-day period expiring Monday after the soldier who led Mali's March 22 coup agreed to drop his objections to the move. The accord between Captain Amadou Sanogo and mediators from the ECOWAS bloc of West African states keeps Mali's fragile transition to civilian rule on track and could open the way for the arrival of peacekeeping troops from neighboring countries. "I can tell you that a deal has been reached in principle," Sanogo told state television late on Saturday. ...
Germany's Schaeuble says Greek euro zone exit preventable
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Greece's exit from the euro zone could definitely be prevented but that it was up to Greece to abide by its agreements. "European solidarity isn't a one-way street," Schaeuble told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "You can't have one without the other. If anyone in Greece thinks that's the case, then they're massively fooling themselves and the voters. ...
Serbians vote for president under threat of protest
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Pro-Western incumbent Boris Tadic and rightist Tomislav Nikolic went head to head on Sunday in a tense run-off election for Serbian president and the right to lead the struggling nation into talks on joining the European Union. In a vote marred by opposition accusations of fraud, Tadic is tipped to defeat Nikolic for the third time since 2004 as Serbia slowly sheds the legacy of a decade of war and isolation under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic. ...
Sri Lanka president orders release of jailed rival
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the early release from jail of his highest-profile political rival Sarath Fonseka, the president's spokesman said on Sunday, in an apparent bid to quell international criticism of the government's human rights record. The authorisation for Fonseka's release will be sent to the justice ministry on Monday, spokesman Bandula Jayasekara said. The former general is expected to be free soon afterwards, but will not be able to leave the country. ...
Obama sees 'emerging consensus' on economic fix
Confronting an economic crisis that threatens them all, President Barack Obama and leaders of other world powers on Saturday declared that their governments must both spark growth and cut the debt that has crippled the European continent and put investors worldwide on edge.
Israel blasts foreign proposal on settlement goods
The Palestinian campaign to boycott goods produced in Jewish settlements in the West Bank has received a boost from abroad with an unprecedented South African proposal to have the name of Israel dropped from labels on merchandise made in the settlements.
Ex-president seeks comeback in Dominican Republic
A former president whose term ended with the worst economic crisis in the modern history of the Dominican Republic will seek to make a comeback Sunday as he faces an old rival in a race to lead the Caribbean's top tourist destination.
Powerful quake kills at least 4 in northern Italy
One of the strongest earthquakes to shake northern Italy rattled the region around Bologna early Sunday, a magnitude-6.0 temblor that killed at least four people, toppled buildings and sent residents running into the streets, emergency services and news reports said.
Opposition groups report clashes in Syrian capital
A restive district of the Syrian capital that has been a hotbed of dissent against President Bashar Assad was rocked by fighting overnight between government forces and army defectors, opposition groups said Sunday.
Chinese activist who fled house arrest lands in US
A blind Chinese legal activist who was suddenly allowed to leave the country arrived in the U.S. on Saturday, ending a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle that had tested U.S.-China relations.
Sri Lanka set to release jailed ex-army chief
Sri Lanka's president has ordered authorities to free the country's jailed former army chief, a man credited with ending the country's long civil war but who later was imprisoned after challenging the president in elections.
Transgender Miss Universe Canada contestant loses
The first-ever transgender contestant to compete in the Miss Universe Canada pageant strutted the runway Saturday night, making it to the penultimate round before losing her bid to win the title.
After Italy bombing, no claim of responsibility
A bomb blast outside a high school in southern Italy that killed a 16-year-old student has stirred memories of the dark days decades ago when terrorists, anarchists and organized crime carried out dozens of bloody attacks.
Taiwan's Ma signals no China change as term starts
Taiwan's president began his second term Sunday and signaled he will maintain a China policy that has reduced tensions between the sides, offering Beijing little early hope of realizing its long-term goal of unification.