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Blind Chinese activist leaves Beijing for U.S.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China allowed a blind legal activist, Chen Guangcheng, to leave a hospital in Beijing on Saturday and board a plane bound for the United States, a move that could signal the end of a diplomatic standoff between the two countries. Chen's escape from house arrest in northeastern China last month and subsequent stay in the U.S. embassy caused huge embarrassment for China and led to a diplomatic rift while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was visiting Beijing for talks to improve ties between the world's two biggest economies. The U.S. ...
Syria bomb kills 9, Damascus blames foreign plot
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb blew up at a Syrian intelligence post in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday, killing up to nine people, activists and state media said. State television said the attack was the latest evidence that Syria is facing a foreign-sponsored Sunni Islamist conspiracy rather than a broad popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. The official SANA news agency said the blast had killed nine and wounded about 100, including guards, at what it called military installations. It said residences had been damaged. ...
G8 making progress on euro zone crisis, oil prices: UK
CAMP ROUND MEADOW, Maryland (Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of Eight major economies are making progress on addressing the two biggest threats to their economies - the euro zone crisis and very high oil prices, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Saturday. After an early morning bilateral meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Cameron said he detected a "growing sense of urgency that action needs to be taken" on the euro zone crisis. ...
Bomb at Italian school kills teenager, wounds seven
BRINDISI, Italy (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in front of a girls' school in southern Italy on Saturday, killing a 16-year-old girl and wounding seven others, suspicion quickly falling on the local Mafia. The explosion, near the entrance of a school named after the wife of murdered anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, occurred as girls were arriving for the start of the school day, which in Italy includes Saturdays. ...
Europe's economic woes dominate G8 gathering
CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will press European leaders to ease up on fiscal austerity and focus on economic growth at a summit on Saturday that will discuss ways to stem turmoil in the euro zone and head off the risk of global contagion. At the wooded Camp David retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, Obama and leaders from other large economic powers will try to forge a common approach to tackling a crisis that threatens the future of Europe's 17-nation single currency. ...
Chinese entities world's biggest economic spies: Pentagon
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Friday it believes China spent up to $180 billion on its military buildup last year, a far higher figure than acknowledged by Beijing, and it accused "Chinese actors" of being the world's biggest perpetrators of economic espionage. China rejected the report as irresponsible, saying the United States was spreading a "China military threat" theory. ...
Thousands march in Frankfurt against austerity measures
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - At least 20,000 demonstrators marched through Frankfurt on Saturday in a peaceful protest against austerity measures implemented to tackle the intensifying euro zone debt crisis. Police closed off main roads in the centre of Frankfurt and set up check points on highways around the city as part of a heavy security operation to protect Germany's financial capital. ...
Yemen says air strikes, troops kills seven militants
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Five suspected al Qaeda militants were killed in air raids in Yemen, and troops killed another two insurgents on Saturday, officials said, in a new U.S.-backed offensive aimed at reasserting control in the south of the country. An air strike destroyed a vehicle used by militants, killing its two passengers, in the southern province of Bayda, the provincial governor, Mohammed al-Ameri, told a Defence Ministry website. ...
Qatar, UAE urge citizens to stay away from Lebanon
DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar and the United Arab Emirates urged their citizens to stay away from Lebanon, citing security concerns in a country where fighting prompted by sectarian tensions in neighboring Syria has unsettled areas near a northern port. The two Gulf states' Foreign Ministries urged all those already in Lebanon - a favorite destination for wealthy Gulf tourists - to leave because of the "security situation" in the country, the official news agencies QNA and WAM reported. Heavy fighting has rocked Lebanon's northern port of Tripoli in the past week. ...
Greece confirms June 17 election date
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece confirmed on Saturday that it would a hold a repeat general election on June 17, after party leaders failed to form a coalition government following an inconclusive election. "We are calling a general election for June 17. The new parliament will convene on June 28, Thursday," said a statement from the parliament's press office. The statement said President Karolos Papoulias had dissolved the parliament elected on May 6, two days after it was convened. The date of the new election was released last week but was not official until Papoulias issued Saturday's decree. ...
Chinese activist who fled house arrest heads to US
A blind Chinese legal activist was hurriedly taken from a hospital and put on a plane for the United States on Saturday, closing a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle that had tested U.S.-China relations.
Suicide blast kills 13 in eastern Afghanistan
A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint Saturday in a volatile area of eastern Afghanistan, killing 13 people, police said.
Thousands mark 'Red Shirt' crackdown in Bangkok
Buddhist monks led prayers as tens of thousands gathered Saturday in Bangkok to mark the second anniversary of deadly clashes between soldiers and "Red Shirt" protesters.
G-8 leaders put focus on European financial crisis
Leaders of the world's economic powers say Germany should balance its push for European fiscal austerity with doses of stimulus spending to avoid a financial calamity with global repercussions.
Echoes of Eurozone crisis at NATO meeting
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
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.
Electric car network gets first test in Israel
Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi has begun rolling out the world's first nationwide electric car network. Now, will the drivers come?
Syria: Suicide vehicle bomb hits military compound
A suicide vehicle bomb tore through the parking lot of a military compound in an eastern Syrian city on Saturday, killing nine people in the latest in a series of blasts in recent months targeting security installations, the country's state media reported.
Gunter Sachs art collection to be auctioned in UK
A British auction house is selling artworks collected by Germany born photographer Gunter Sachs.
Student killed, 7 hurt in blast near Italy school
A bomb exploded outside a high school in southern Italy named after a slain anti-Mafia prosecutor as students arrived for class Saturday, killing a teenage girl and wounding several other classmates, officials said.