World News

Central Intelligence Agency Director nominee Leon Panetta testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009.

photo: AP / Susan Walsh

U.S. Pushes Back on Pakistan Offer
read more Wall Street Journal

By JAY SOLOMON WASHINGTON—Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta said he has seen no information indicating that any hard-line Taliban factions or other insurgent groups based in Pakistan were prepared to reconcile with Afghanistan's government if the U.S. were to end its military campaign in the tribal regions that link the two...

In this Thursday June 24, 2010 photo Pierre Nkurunziza, current president of Burundi and of the ruling CNDD-FDD Party, greets a supporter during his election campaign at Gatumba, 20km outside of the capital of Burundi, Bujumbura.

photo: AP / Marc Hofer

Burundi set for one-candidate presidential poll
read more BBC News

Voters in Burundi are due to cast their ballots in a presidential election in which the outcome is already clear. The serving President Pierre Nkurunziza is the only candidate still running after all his opponents pulled out. The ballot is the first since the last of the...

Vice President Dick Cheney makes remarks at the Philadelphia Financial Center, which disburses payments on behalf of federal agencies, in Philadelphia, Thursday, May 8, 2008.

photo: AP / Matt Rourke

Cheney spends weekend in hospital bed
read more Independent online (SA)

Washington - Former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has a long history of heart problems, may be released from hospital on Monday after a weekend stay over unspecified health complaints, his daughter said. Cheney, who checked into George Washington hospital on Friday, is "feeling better and...

Supply warehouses and dock facilities at this important east coast port feel the destructive weight of parademolition bombs dropped from Fifth Air Force's B-26 Invader light bombers. Wonsan, North Korea. Ca. 1951

photo: Public Domain / National Archives and Records Administration

180,000 Chinese soldiers killed in Korean War
read more China Daily

BEIJING - A total of 180,000 Chinese soldiers were killed while they fought with North Korea against US aggression in the early 1950s, a Chinese major general said ahead of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, which fell last Friday. More than 110,000 members of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army died in combat in the war that involved 18...

Kyrgyzstan's interim government leader Roza Otunbayeva gestures as she speaks to the media in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Sunday, June 27, 2010. Kyrgyzstan's interim president said voters approved a new constitution Sunday that will allow the Central Asian nation to form a legitimate government after months of turmoil. President Roza Otunbayeva called the referendum a success, saying it took place without incident and paves the way for holding parliamentary elections in the fall

photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko

Kyrgyz regime claims victory in controversial poll
read more Irish Times

LUKE HARDING KYRGYZSTAN'S INTERIM government last night claimed victory in a controversial referendum, held just two weeks after 2,000 people were killed and tens of thousands were left homeless in ethnic violence. Rosa Otunbayeva, the country's acting leader, said she had won overwhelming support for her plan to create a new parliamentary system....

President Barack Obama of the United States, center, joins with other world leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, left, and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, right, for the official family photo during the G20 Summit Sunday, June 27, 2010, in Toronto.

photo: AP / Christophe Ena

G20 leaders agree to cut deficits by 2013
read more The Times of India

TORONTO: The leaders of the world's most powerful economies pledged to slash back spiraling debts on Sunday as they sought to rebalance a global economy knocked off its axis by a financial crisis. The heads of the G20, which groups established world powers and the most dynamic emerging players, vowed to nurture the still shaky recovery with...

People look at the damage caused by a car bomb, at a police station in Central-Bosnian town of Bugojno, 120 kms west of Sarajevo, Sunday, June 27, 2010.

photo: AP / Amel Emric

Blast at Bosnia police headquarters kills one officer
read more The Star

BUGOJNO, Bosnia (Reuters) - An explosion at the police headquarters of the central Bosnian town of Bugojno killed one officer and seriously injured another early on Sunday, officials said. "An unidentified explosive device went off during the morning shift at 0500 CET (0300 GMT) when about 25 policemen were in the building," a local police officer...

Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges cheers from pilgrims and faithful at the end of the Angelus prayer from his studio window overlooking St. Peter´s square at the Vatican Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. (mb1)

photo: AP /Plinio Lepri

Pope Lashes Out at Belgium After Raid on Church
read more The New York Times

ROME — In a sign of sharply rising tensions between the Vatican and Belgium, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday criticized as “surprising and deplorable” a raid on church property last week by Belgian police investigating sex abuse by clerics. In an exceedingly rare personal message and rebuke of a sovereign country, the pontiff also...

Leader of the Civic Democratic party, ODS, Petr Necas smiles after a press briefing after discussing the political situation with Czech Republic's President Vaclav Klaus, not pictured, at the Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, May 31, 2010. St. Vitus cathedral is in the background.

photo: AP / Petr David Josek

Conservative Named Prime Minister in Czech Republic
read more The New York Times

PRAGUE —President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic said Sunday he will appoint a center-right leader, Petr Necas, as the country’s new prime minister on Monday, clearing the way for an economically liberal, pro-American government with a focus on fiscal austerity. The appointment of Mr. Necas, whose Civic Democratic Party is in...

Soldiers and civilians wait in line to cast their ballots in presidential elections in Conakry, Guinea, Sunday, June 27, 2010.

photo: AP / Idrissa Soumare

Guinea holds first free election after era of army rule
read more Star Tribune

CONAKRY, Guinea - Guinea on Sunday held its first free election since independence more than half a century ago, a vote many hope will finally end decades of harsh military rule and launch a new democratic era. On the eve of the ballot, the country's powerful junta leader vowed to ensure fairness and transparency, and warned a roomful of...