G8 leaders back Greece amid tensions
G8 leaders said they want debt-stricken Greece to stay in the eurozone at a Camp David summit as the group papered over deep-seated divisions about how best to tackle the eurozone crisis.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 5:42 am
Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious material
The chairman of Pakistan's telecommunications authority says the government has blocked the social networking website Twitter because of material considered offensive to Islam.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 5:37 am
Afghan attack kills two NATO soldiers, two children
Two NATO soldiers were killed in an attack in Afghanistan Sunday, ISAF said, while police said at least two children were also killed as a suicide bomber targeted a NATO convoy.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 5:21 am
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.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 5:05 am
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.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 5:04 am
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. ...
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:53 am
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.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:48 am
Blind Chinese dissident begins life in US
Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng was to spend his first full day in the United States Sunday after praising Beijing's "restraint and calm" as he sought to draw a line under a month-long tussle that tested China-US ties.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:46 am
Flash flood kills 19 in Afghanistan; many missing
Flood waters ravaged a provincial capital in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 19 people and destroying hundreds of homes, officials said Sunday.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:43 am
Tropical storm Alberto churns off Southeast coast
Tropical Storm Alberto churned off South Carolina's coastline Sunday, the first storm of its kind to form in a hurricane season that doesn't officially begin until June 1, forecasters said.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:40 am
China keeps up pressure on Chen's family, supporters
BEIJING (Reuters) - While the blind Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng on Sunday enjoyed his first hours in New York after years of jail and detention, relatives and supporters back home remained locked down by security authorities. Chen's escape last month from 19 months of detention in his home village in eastern China and his six-day stay in the U.S. embassy in Beijing exposed embarrassing gaps in the web of security that the ruling Communist Party uses to stifle dissent. ...
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:20 am
World leaders set to tackle Afghanistan's future
World leaders weary of war will tackle Afghanistan's post-conflict future — from funding for security forces to upcoming elections — when the NATO summit opens Sunday.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:19 am
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.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:18 am
Italy arrests two over school bomb attack
Italian police have arrested two suspects over the bombing of a school that killed a 16-year-old girl and seriously injured five more teenagers, media reports said here Sunday.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:14 am
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.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 4:00 am
Large Colo. wildfire nearly contained
Fire crews took advantage of lower temperatures and higher humidity to make key advances on a large wildfire in northern Colorado, one of several burning across the West.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 3:57 am
Italy earthquake leaves three dead, 50 hurt
A powerful earthquake shook Italy's industrial and densely populated northeast early Sunday, killing three people and felling homes and church steeples around the historic city of Ferrara.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 3:55 am
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 realise we're going to make it through this." Little over a year ago such optimism was scarce. ...
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 3:46 am
Vote in Libya's Benghazi tests support for autonomy
BENGHAZI (Reuters) - People in Libya's second biggest city, Benghazi, voted on Saturday in a local election that will test support for a proposal to set up autonomous rule for eastern Libya. Benghazi was the cradle of last year's revolt which overthrew Muammar Gaddafi but it is also the home of a movement which, frustrated with the new national rulers, wants to turn Libya into a federal state with autonomous provinces. Supporters of autonomy for Cyrenaica, the eastern province that includes Benghazi, were running in the election to choose a new city council. ...
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 3:43 am
Mali coup leaders accept transition deal: ECOWAS
BAMAKO (Reuters) - The soldiers behind Mali's March 22 coup have agreed to allow a caretaker civilian president to remain in charge of the West African state for the time being, mediators for the ECOWAS bloc of West African states said on Saturday. The accord comes after the 15-nation ECOWAS group threatened travel bans and other sanctions on the coup leaders for blocking an extension of the 40-day mandate of interim leader Dioncounda Traore, to whom they nominally handed over power last month. ...
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 3:40 am
Bashir says wants peace with S.Sudan but security comes first
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said Sudan wants a lasting peace with South Sudan but Juba needs to end support for rebels in Sudan's border land, state news agency SUNA said on Saturday. Oil, security and frontier disputes ignited border clashes last month and for a while raised fears of full-blown war in one of Africa's most significant oil regions. South Sudan became independent in July under a 2005 peace agreement with Khartoum that ended decades of civil war. ...
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 3:39 am
Sri Lanka president orders ex-army chief freed
Sri Lanka's president has ordered the release of his jailed electoral rival, ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka, bowing to US-led international pressure three years after the end of the island's long ethnic war.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 3:31 am
Facebook's Zuckerberg changes status, weds Chan
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg capped the week of a lifetime, changing his own status to married after wedding Priscilla Chan just a day after his company went public, he announced.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 3:19 am
Thunder rally past Lakers, take 3-1 series lead
Kevin Durant stood above the 3-point line and watched the shot clock dwindle in the final seconds of Game 4. When Metta World Peace backed up slightly on defense, Durant hesitated only an instant before launching a 26-footer.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 3:04 am
Chinese activist renews call to fight injustice
A blind Chinese legal activist who escaped house arrest, endured a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle and a hurried daylong flight paused ever so briefly upon his arrival in New York City before taking up a familiar fight.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 2:59 am
Day after historic IPO, Facebook's Zuckerberg weds
For Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it was quite a week — from birthday, to IPO, to I DO.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 2:57 am
Powerful quake kills at least 3 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 three people, toppled some buildings and sent residents running into the streets, emergency services and news reports said.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 2:39 am
APNewsBreak: 22 states join campaign finance fight
Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 2:31 am
Protesters prepare for larger NATO demonstration
Protesters gathering in Chicago for the NATO summit were gearing up for their largest demonstration Sunday, when thousands are expected to march from a downtown park to the lakeside convention center where President Barack Obama and dozens of other world leaders will meet.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 2:09 am
Gunmen shoot dead jail warden in Pakistan: police
Gunmen on a motorcycle have shot dead a senior prison official in Pakistan's troubled southwestern city of Quetta, according to police.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 2:01 am
Large Colo. blaze nearly contained
Fire officials say a wildfire that had forced dozens to evacuate earlier in the week is now nearly contained.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:55 am
Fake testicles and facials, new ways of pet pampering
People and their pets often end up resembling each other, but image-obsessed Americans are taking that age-old relationship a step further, treating their four-legged friends to everything from spa facials to testicle implants.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:53 am
Kristen Wiig gets an emotional sendoff from 'SNL'
Kristen Wiig got a musical sendoff on the season finale of "Saturday Night Live" as the popular and versatile cast member made her exit after seven years.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:51 am
G-8 warns North Korea about further provocations
The Group of Eight world leaders has warned North Korea that it faces more sanctions if it continues to threaten the stability of the region with provocative acts such as its failed long-range rocket launch in April.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:47 am
Reports: 3 dead after quake in northern Italy
A magnitude-6.0 earthquake shook northern Italy early Sunday, killing at least three people and toppling some buildings, emergency services and news reports said.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:45 am
Men accused of plotting attacks around NATO summit
Three activists who traveled to Chicago for a NATO summit were accused Saturday of manufacturing Molotov cocktails in a plot to attack President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home and other targets.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:39 am
Sri Lanka president orders ex-army chief freed
Sri Lanka's president has ordered the release of his jailed electoral rival, ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka, bowing to US-led international pressure three years after the end of the island's long ethnic war.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:34 am
Reports: 3 dead in quake near Bologna
A magnitude-5.9 earthquake shook northern Italy early Sunday, killing at least three people and toppling some buildings, emergency services and news reports said.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:31 am
Alberto: Tropical storm watch on swath of SC coast
Tropical Storm Alberto swirled off the South Carolina coast packing maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph) on Sunday, a day after becoming the first tropical storm of the 2012 hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center said.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:26 am
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.
Posted on 20 May 2012 | 1:23 am