Front Section

Blind Chinese activist Chen arrives in New York

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 09:55 PM

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. ...

World leaders back Greece, vow to combat financial turmoil

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 08:28 PM

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - World leaders backed keeping Greece in the euro zone on Saturday and vowed to take all steps necessary to combat financial turmoil while revitalizing a global economy increasingly threatened by Europe's debt crisis. A summit of the G8 leading industrialized nations came down solidly in favor of a push to balance European austerity - an approach long driven by German Chancellor Angela Merkel - with a new dose of U.S.-style stimulus seen as vital to healing ailing euro-zone economies. But it was clear that divisions remained. ...

Syria bomb kills 9, Damascus blames foreign plot

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 02:58 PM

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed nine people at a Syrian military post in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday, an attack the government said was the latest proof that an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad was a foreign plot. The official SANA news agency said the blast had been the work of a suicide bomber, and had also wounded about 100 people, including guards, at what it called military installations. International pressure and an U.N.-backed peace plan has failed to quell Syria's turmoil. ...

Magnitude 5.9 quake strikes near Bologna, Italy

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 11:56 PM

BOLOGNA, Italy (Reuters) - A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck near Bologna, Italy, on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and initial reports indicated some damage. No injuries were immediately confirmed, an Interior Ministry spokesman told Reuters, but many calls were coming in and there was one report of a roof collapsing in Sermide, a small town between Bologna and Verona, and of a woman inside calling for help. Firefighters said there were some "structural collapses" near the town of Bondeno, and the initial quake was followed by a fairly strong 5.1 magnitude aftershock. ...

G8, raising pressure on Iran, puts oil stocks on standby

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 07:52 PM

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of Eight major economies raised the pressure on Iran on Saturday, signaling their readiness to tap into emergency oil stockpiles quickly this summer if tougher new sanctions on Tehran threaten to strain supplies. "We remain united in our grave concern over Iran's nuclear program," the G8 leaders said in a statement summing up the results of their meeting in Camp David in rural Maryland. ...

UK may keep troops in Afghanistan post-2014 to fight terrorism

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 08:18 PM

CAMP ROUND MEADOW, Maryland (Reuters) - Britain may keep a small number of soldiers in Afghanistan to fight terrorism after 2014, when NATO forces are due to end combat operations, a senior British government official said on Saturday. It is the first time Britain has given any indication it may keep forces in Afghanistan after 2014 apart from a small training contingent. Britain plans to withdraw 500 soldiers from its 9,500-strong force in Afghanistan this year before ending combat operations in 2014 when Afghan security forces are due to have taken over responsibility for security. ...

Yemen clashes kill 34 militants, soldiers: officials

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 05:26 PM

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - At least 22 al Qaeda-linked militants and 12 Yemeni soldiers were killed in clashes and air strikes overnight during a U.S.-backed offensive against insurgents in the south of the country, officials said on Saturday. Fighting erupted late on Friday and carried on into Saturday on the outskirts of the southern city of Jaar, held by Islamist militants who have stepped up their campaign during months of political turmoil. Government troops, backed by U.S. ...

Youth protest former Mexican ruling party's rise

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 06:00 PM

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators protested in Mexico City on Saturday against opposition presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, who is far ahead in polls and poised to lead the party that ruled Mexico for much of the 20th century back to power. A contingent of mainly students, accompanied by groups of unionized workers and peasant farmers, held banners lambasting the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and its candidate, Pena Nieto. "I have a brain, I won't vote for the PRI," one banner read. ...

Bomb at Italian school kills teenage girl, wounds 10

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 01:18 PM

BRINDISI, Italy (Reuters) - A 16-year-old girl was killed in southern Italy by a bomb that exploded in front of her school before classes on Saturday in an unprecedented attack that wounded 10 others, one seriously. Officials initially suggested a local mafia group was the main suspect, but investigators later said the rudimentary nature of the bomb and the targeting of an all-girls secondary school did not point toward organized crime. There was no claim of responsibility. ...

Pakistani leader may face friction over supply routes at NATO summit

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 09:03 PM

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Chicago on Saturday for a NATO summit to what could be a chilly reception if a hoped-for deal allowing trucks to again supply alliance troops in Afghanistan fails to materialize. While Western officials sought to portray Zardari's presence as a sign of improving NATO-Pakistan ties, possible friction at the meeting underscores the challenges NATO countries face as they struggle to ensure a stable future for Afghanistan after Western troops withdraw. ...

Obama sees 'emerging consensus' on economic fix

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 07:34 PM

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.

Chinese activist who fled house arrest lands in US

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 06:34 PM

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.

Thousands mark 'Red Shirt' crackdown in Bangkok

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 08:39 PM

Monjes budistas encabezaron las oraciones de decenas de miles de personas que se congregaron en la capital tailandesa el sábado, en el segundo aniversario de los mortíferos choques entre soldados y los manifestantes "Camisas Rojas".

Bomb kills 1 student, wounds 7 in Italy

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 07:09 PM

A bomb exploded outside an Italian high school named after the wife of an assassinated anti-Mafia prosecutor, killing one student and wounding at least seven others, officials said.

Yemen: 36 killed in fighting with al-Qaida

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 05:59 PM

Yemeni officials say fresh clashes with al-Qaida fighters in the south have left at least 34 people dead, while a suspected U.S. drone strike has killed two militants.

Car bomb in eastern Syrian city kills 9

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 03:14 PM

A car bomb in the parking lot of a Syrian military compound killed at least nine people Saturday, the latest in increasingly frequent bombings in the country's major cities to target the regime's security services.

World leaders confront flagging Afghan war

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 11:02 AM

It was what President Barack Obama called a "war of necessity," a conflict thrust upon America by the 9/11 attacks. As NATO's mission here winds down nearly 11 years later, the insurgents remain undefeated, corruption runs rife and the peace process is stuck in the sand.

Suicide blast kills 13 in eastern Afghanistan

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 09:59 AM

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint Saturday in a volatile area of eastern Afghanistan, killing 13 people, police said.

Echoes of Eurozone crisis at NATO meeting

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 08:57 AM

The NATO meeting in Chicago is a chance for alliance leaders to proclaim solidarity and promise success. But the two-day gathering that begins Sunday probably won't resolve the underlying anxiety about sharing the burdens of defense, a concern heightened by Europe's economic crisis and America's growing weariness at carrying the heaviest load.

7 charged with terror crimes in Real IRA crackdown

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012 05:19 PM

Seven Irish republicans, including three relatives of a senior reputed Real IRA member and four others allegedly operating a forest rifle range, were arraigned Saturday on terror charges following a security sweep against militants plotting to sabotage Northern Ireland's peace process.