::. International
Syrians Support His Reform Efforts: Assad
Updated on May 17, 2012
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad has told a Russian state news channel that his country supports his reform agenda. He says recent parliamentary elections in the country show that Syrians "up to this time support the course ...
Hollande Names Ayrault New French Prime Minister
Updated on May 16, 2012
PARIS— Francois Hollande was sworn in Tuesday as France's new president — the first Socialist to lead the country since 1995 — and within hours named lawmaker Jean-Marc Ayrault as his new prime ...
German Opposition Wins Major State Election
Updated on May 15, 2012
BERLIN — Voters in Germany's most populous state inflicted an embarrassingly heavy defeat on Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives Sunday and strengthened a regional government that the German leader's party had portrayed as irresponsibly spendthrift. The outcome boosted Germany's center-left opposition, and was a bitter pill to swallow for ...
Iran Warns West Ahead of IAEA, Baghdad Talks
Updated on May 14, 2012
TEHRAN - Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said on Sunday that Tehran will not yield to pressure ahead of talks with the UN atomic watchdog and the world powers over its controversial nuclear drive.
"The time for pressure strategy has come to an end," Jalili ...
India Agrees $560m US Artillery Deal
Updated on May 13, 2012
NEW DEHLI- India agreed a $560 million deal to buy 145 howitzer guns from BAE Systems of the US as it upgrades its antiquated military hardware, an official said Saturday.
India is updating its military capabilities with hardware worth tens of billions of dollars in the face of long-standing tensions with regional rivals China and ...
EU Sees Hope of Recovery from Recession
Updated on May 12, 2012
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says that a recession brought on by a crippling debt crisis could give way to a modest recovery later this year — provided governments persevere on the tough austerity track.It suggested that more growth-enhancing measures can be pursued alongside strict budgetary controls, but only as long as they do not ...
UN Chides Blast as ‘Violence Syrians Do Not Need’
Updated on May 10, 2012
DARAA - A blast that hit troops escorting UN observers in Syria's south on Wednesday was "a graphic example of violence that the Syrian people do not need," said UN observer chief Major General Robert Mood.
The incident in the southern city of Daraa came a day after UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan warned that his peace plan could be the last ...
UN Must Bolster Observer Mission to Syria: Erdogan
Updated on May 09, 2012
The UN should bolster its mission to Syria with up to 3,000 observers to give a full picture of the situation in the country, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday."We need 1,000, 2,000, maybe 3,000 observers, a major mission so they can visit the whole country and see what is happening," Erdogan said ...
French Leader Hollande Face Questions over EU Pact
Updated on May 08, 2012
PARIS - France's president-elect Francois Hollande was plunged straight into the European economic debate on Monday, as doubts over his plans and turmoil in Greece threatened to tip the eurozone back into crisis.
The 57-year-old Socialist won power on Sunday, ousting right-wing ...
Socialist Candidate Wins French Presidential Election
Updated on May 07, 2012
PARIS – French Socialist candidate, Francois Hollande, has won the French presidential election, according to a report by Agency France Press. AFP said that, based on exit polls, Hollande gained between 52 and 53.3 percent of the vote, putting an end to the political career of ...
9/11 ‘Mastermind’ Back Before Guantanamo Judge
Updated on May 06, 2012
The self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four alleged co-conspirators will appear in public for the first time in more than three years, when U.S. officials start a second attempt at what is likely to be a drawn out legal battle that could lead to the ...
Clinton Presses China to Help on Global Challenges
Updated on May 05, 2012
BEIJING — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged China to play a responsible role in the world by respecting human rights and helping to deal with challenges posed by Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs and violence in Syria and Sudan and South ...
Japan, South Korea Urges No More North Korea “Provocations”
Updated on May 03, 2012
VIENNA - Japan and South Korea urged North Korea on Wednesday to refrain from any new "provocations", amid concern the secretive Asian state will soon conduct a new nuclear test. North Korea, which tested plutonium devices in 2006 and 2009, has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test; a senior source ...
Sarkozy Fighting for His Future, Likely to Lose
Updated on May 02, 2012
PARIS— President Nicolas Sarkozy is the underdog, and he knows it. Not a single poll has predicted he will win re-election on Sunday, and leading figures in his government are already lining up new jobs.In televised interviews, Sarkozy's on the defensive and paints himself as a victim. At campaign rallies, he's boxer-like, punching the air, torso ...
EU Wrangles Over Bank Rules in Crisis Aftermath
Updated on May 01, 2012
BRUSSELS — Disagreement between European states on new banking rules is highlighting a key weakness in the continent's effort to fight its crisis — whereas the financial sector is spread across national borders, it's still individual countries that have to pick up the bill when things turn sour.
At the heart of the dispute is not only the question of how to ensure ...
Iran Hopes for ‘Success’ in Next Nuclear Talks
Updated on April 30, 2012
TEHRAN - Iran hopes May 23 talks with world powers in Baghdad over its disputed nuclear program will result in "success," Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Sunday, according to ISNA news agency.
"The Istanbul talks were a success and we hope that the Baghdad meeting also will be a success, and if we took one step forward in ...
EU Treaty Likely Delayed: German Opposition
Updated on April 29, 2012
BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel's refusal to amend a European treaty on fiscal discipline with measures to promote growth in struggling EU countries might delay the deal's ratification in Germany, an opposition leader ...
Ban Warns N. Korea to Refrain from Nuclear Test
Updated on April 28, 2012
THAILAND QUOTE - UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned North Korea on Friday against conducting a nuclear test, amid speculation Pyongyang may be planning such a move after a failed rocket launch earlier this month.
Labelling the rocket launch a "threat to international peace and ...
Sarkozy Rules out Deal with Far Right
Updated on Thursday April 26
PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ruled out any pact with Marine Le Pen's National Front after its electoral breakthrough but insisted far-right supporters should not be demonized.
As Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande accused Sarkozy of going too far to "seduce" the far right, European Union president ...
North Korea’s Nuclear Test Ready “Soon”
Updated on April 25, 2012
BEIJING - North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters, which will draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch if it goes ahead.The isolated and impoverished state sacrificed the chance of closer ties with the United ...