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White House acclaims exit of activist from China
The White House has welcomed the arrangement allowing a blind Chinese activist to leave Beijing and fly to the United States with his wife and two sons.
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White House: pleased Chinese dissident Chen headed to U.S.
CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - The White House on Saturday welcomed news that blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng was headed to the United States, and said it was pleased with efforts by China to reach a resolution to the diplomatic standoff. (Reporting By Jeff Mason; Editing by Vicki Allen)
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Syria bomb kills 9, Damascus blames foreign plot
 BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb blew up at a Syrian military post in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday, killing nine people, an attack that Syria said was the latest proof that an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad is a foreign plot. The official SANA news agency said the blast had been the work of a suicide bomber, and had killed nine and wounded about 100, including guards, at what it called military installations. It said residences had been damaged. ...
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G8 raises pressure on Iran with oil commitment
CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of Eight major economies raised the pressure on Iran on Saturday, committing to a common approach on its nuclear program and indicating they would be ready to act together to lower oil prices if necessary. "All of us are firmly committed to continuing with the approach of sanctions and pressure in combination with diplomatic discussions," U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters at the G8 meeting at the presidential retreat in Camp David. ...
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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. ...
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Obama Pushes Growth, Stability at G-8 Summit
WASHINGTON –President Obama suggested that European austerity should be tempered with efforts to stimulate growth, as the eight leaders of the world’s largest economies gathered at Camp David for a summit that was also expected to touch on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the ongoing bloodshed...
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Bomb at Italian school kills teenage girl, wounds 10
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. ...
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Three anti-NATO protesters face terrorism charges
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Three anti-NATO protesters arrested in a late-night raid days before start of the 60-nation summit have been charged with terrorism for possession of explosive devices, police and their attorney said on Saturday. But supporters of the three men arrested Wednesday evening at a residence in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago disputed the charges and said the police had confused beer-making equipment with explosives. ...
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France's Hollande wants Greece to stay in euro zone
CAMP DAVID (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday he wanted Greece to stay in the euro zone, but expected the country to meet its commitments. "The message I gave was the hope that Greece stays in the euro zone, respects its commitments and is supported by Europe to stimulate its growth," he said. Hollande said he had wanted to discuss Spanish and other bank recapitalization, but the G8 had not been the forum to deal with the issue. (Reporting By John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau. Editing by Warren Strobel)
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G8 to call on IEA for "action" on oil if needed: sources
CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - Group of Eight leaders agreed on Saturday to call on the International Energy Agency to take "appropriate action" if there are further disruptions to the oil market in the coming months, sources familiar with the G8 draft communiqué said. "There have been increasing disruptions in the supply of oil to the global market over the past several months, which pose a substantial risk to global economic growth. In response, major producers have increased their output while drawing prudently on excess capacity," the statement will say, according to the sources. ...
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France's Hollande says G8 agree on Annan Syria peace mission
CAMP DAVID (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday that G8 countries had agreed to continue supporting U.N. and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan's Syrian peace efforts. "I insisted that all the participants support Kofi Anan's mission so that observers can provide protection of the Syrian people from their leaders," Hollande said referring to U.N. personnel operating in the country. (Reporting By John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau)
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China activist Chen to study at New York University
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blind Chinese legal activist, Chen Guangcheng, will study as a fellow at New York University's School of Law, the institution said in a statement on Saturday. "I am very happy to receive the news that Chen Guangcheng is on his way to the U.S. I look forward to welcoming him and his family tonight and to working with him on his course of study," said Jerome Cohen, co-director of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at the New York University School of Law. ...
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Small protest descends on Chicago mayor's home
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A group of around 50 demonstrators descended on the home of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Saturday to protest the recent closure of mental health clinics as part of a series of rallies and marches timed to coincide with a NATO summit here. The protest on Chicago's north side included some former patients of six city-run mental health clinics that closed at the end of April to save $2.3 million as part of a drive to eliminate the city's $650 million budget deficit. ...
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Italy's Monti shows G8 bank guarantee plan: report
MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has taken a secret plan to create a European system of guarantees for bank deposits to the G8 summit, the Corriere della Sera newspaper said on Saturday, as savers' anxiety builds in debt-ridden euro zone countries. The proposal aims to guarantee bank deposits "with a view to ... stopping the hemorrhaging of funds from one country to another, from the south to the north," the newspaper reported, without citing any sources. The plan was discussed on Friday at the Group of Eight summit under way in the United States, it said. ...
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Sri Lanka president rejects U.S. calls to close army bases
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected calls from the United States to close army bases in a former war zone as he celebrated the third anniversary on Saturday of the military's victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels. Fighter jets flew over Colombo and thousands of soldiers paraded in the streets flanked by tanks to mark the 2009 end to the 25-year civil war, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Sri Lanka's foreign minister to demilitarize the north of the country and protect human rights. ...
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Obama says "more work to do" at G8 on euro zone
CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday that Group of Eight leaders had "more work to do" when asked whether they had come to any decisions about how to approach the euro zone crisis. "So far so good. We've got more work to do," Obama said in response to a journalist's question while the G8 leaders posed for a picture at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat in the Maryland countryside. (Reporting By Jeff Mason; Editing by Vicki Allen)
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Nightmare foretold if Greece heads for euro exit
 ATHENS/LONDON (Reuters) - In Athens, the homeless are on the streets in growing numbers, soup kitchens feed twice as many people as a year ago, and the poor are diving into garbage bins in search of scrap they can sell. Greece is close to breaking point as it struggles with austerity targets set by creditors, but this is just a foretaste of the nightmare of unrest, hunger and even anarchy that could engulf the debt-crippled nation if it is forced out of the euro. ...
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Seven charged in major roundup of Irish militant suspects
LISBURN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Seven Irish nationalists were remanded in custody in Northern Ireland on Saturday on terrorism charges, in one of the highest profile security roundups in the province in recent years. Four of the suspects, including a 37-year-old woman, were charged with attending a militant training camp and firing range near the town of Omagh. The other three were relatives of prominent Lurgan nationalist Colin Duffy, who was acquitted this year of charges related to an attack by militant group the Real IRA on the army's Massereene Barracks in Antrim three years ago. ...
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Obama wants new banking rules put in place soon
 President Barack Obama says the big trading loss at JPMorgan Chase shows the need to finally put in place banking rules he signed into law two years ago. He also is calling on Congress to stop trying to weaken the regulations.
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Yemen clashes kill 34 militants, soldiers: officials
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - At least 22 al Qaeda-linked militants and 12 Yemeni soldiers were killed in clashes and air strikes overnight during a new 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. ...
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Political vulnerabilities in Sen. Rubio's past?
 For freshman Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising GOP figure seen as a possible Mitt Romney running mate, there are questions about whether potential vulnerabilities in his personal and political background might hold him back.
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Political vulnerabilities in Sen. Rubio's past?
For freshman Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising GOP figure seen as a possible Mitt Romney running mate, there are questions about whether potential vulnerabilities in his personal and political background might hold him back.
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Motorcycle bomber kills 10 in eastern Afghanistan
KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated explosives in an Afghan district close to the border with Pakistan, killing at least 10 people including children, officials said on Saturday. The attack comes one day ahead of a NATO summit in Chicago, where the coalition intends to spell out its role in Afghanistan after foreign combat troops leave by the end of 2014. "The bomber blew himself up in a crowded market and it was powerful," said Sardar Mohammad Zazai, police chief of eastern Khost province. ...
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Gay marriage could be big voting issue in Colorado
 Minutes after President Barack Obama endorsed gay marriage on May 9, Colorado's Democratic governor choked back tears as he ordered state lawmakers to reconsider a civil-unions measure defeated the day before by Republicans.
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Gay marriage could be big voting issue in Colorado
Minutes after President Barack Obama endorsed gay marriage on May 9, Colorado's Democratic governor choked back tears as he ordered state lawmakers to reconsider a civil-unions measure defeated the day before by Republicans.
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Sudan says receives "large amount" of hard currency
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's central bank has received "a large amount" of hard currency from abroad and plans to use it to stabilize the pound following the local currency's effective devaluation, the deputy central bank governor said in remarks published on Saturday. Deputy governor Badr el-Din Mahmoud told al-Sudani newspaper the central bank had received the foreign currency from "friendly" countries. "It arrived in the treasury of the central bank in the past few days," he said, without elaborating. ...
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Merkel did not push Greece referendum idea: witness
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Greek President Karolos Papoulias what he thought of the idea of holding a referendum on Greek membership in the euro but did not push it, a journalist who said he overheard their conversation wrote on Saturday. A Greek government spokesman said Merkel raised the idea in a telephone call on Friday but Berlin swiftly denied that. The incident reignited anti-Merkel sentiment in debt-laden Greece where many accuse the German leader of exacerbating the crisis by being slow to act and then demanding austerity measures that are too tough. ...
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Filipino Christian conservatives denounce Lady Gaga concert
 Conservative Christian groups in the Philippines on Saturday marched near a shopping mall to demand the cancellation of Lady Gaga's two concerts next week, saying her songs carried "demonic" undertones. The protests in the heavily Catholic Philippines followed a decision this week by authorities in Indonesia, a secular state but with the world's largest Muslim population, to refuse her a permit to perform in Jakarta next month. ...
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Obama to Congress: Put in place banking rules now
President Barack Obama says the big trading loss at JPMorgan Chase shows the need to finally put in place banking rules he signed into law two years ago. He also is calling on Congress to stop trying to weaken the regulations.
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Bahrain, Qatar, UAE urge citizens to stay away from Lebanon
DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain, 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 three 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 BNA, QNA and WAM reported. Heavy fighting has rocked Lebanon's northern port of Tripoli in the past week. ...
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