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2012-05-18T07:57:07Z
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A showdown looms in the House over whether to end the indefinite detention without trial of terrorist suspects, even U.S. citizens seized within the nation's borders. |
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2012-05-18T07:37:57Z
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 The early border skirmishes of Campaign 2012 are reviving questions about one candidate's former pastor and shining a spotlight on the other's high school hijinks. Can a fresh round of questions about President Barack Obama's birth certificate be far behind?
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2012-05-17T21:20:23Z
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 Mitt Romney swiftly and firmly distanced himself Thursday from a group exploring plans to target President Barack Obama's relationship with a controversial former pastor. But the revival of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright as a campaign issue momentarily placed race at the center of the presidential contest and showcased the independent groups playing a new role this year with big-money TV ads.
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2012-05-18T09:25:09Z
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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he believed al Qaeda was responsible for two suicide car bombs that killed at least 55 people in Syria a week ago and that the death toll in the country's 14-month conflict was now at least 10,000. "A few days ago there was a huge, serious, massive terrorist attack. I believe that there must be al Qaeda behind it. This has created again very serious problems," Ban told a youth event at U.N. headquarters in New York. ... |
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2012-05-18T09:25:09Z
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 AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that countries trying to "sow chaos" in Syria could be infected with it themselves, an apparent warning to Arab Gulf nations that back the insurgency aimed at forcing him from power. Assad's remarks, to a Russian TV channel, came after U.N. staff monitoring an increasingly shaky ceasefire were caught up in an attack that killed at least 21 people, and had to spend a night with rebel forces. ...
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2012-05-18T09:25:09Z
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GENEVA (Reuters) - A deputy of Kofi Annan, the international mediator on Syria, plans to travel to Syria but the exact timing is confidential, Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told a regular U.N. briefing on Friday. Fawzi declined to elaborate on reports that an "important person" would visit Damascus later on Friday. He said Annan intended to go there at some stage, and his deputy had a specific travel plan. He did not name the deputy. (Reporting by Tom Miles; editing by Andrew Roche) |
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2012-05-18T09:05:56Z
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 VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog are making headway towards a framework deal on how to tackle concerns about its atomic activity, diplomats say, a potential bargaining chip for Tehran in next week's negotiations with world powers. Iran says such an agreement is needed before it can consider a request by U.N. inspectors to visit the Parchin military site where they believe explosives tests relevant for developing nuclear weapons may have been carried out. ...
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2012-05-18T08:48:31Z
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission and the European Central Bank are working on an emergency scenario in case Greece has to leave the euro zone, EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said in an interview published on Friday. The comments would appear to be the first time that an EU official has confirmed the existence of contingencies being taken for a possible Greek exit from the currency bloc. Speculation has been rife about such plans, but their existence has not been confirmed. ... |
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2012-05-18T08:47:32Z
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission and the European Central Bank are working on an emergency scenario in case Greece has to leave the euro zone, EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said in an interview published on Friday. The comments would appear to be the first time that an EU official has confirmed the existence of contingencies being taken for a possible Greek exit from the currency bloc. Speculation has been rife about such plans, but their existence has not been confirmed. ... |
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2012-05-18T08:40:26Z
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MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's central government on Thursday approved plans to drastically cut the spending of its indebted regions this year and said it would introduce by July a new mechanism to back their financing needs. As the country races to control finances in its autonomous communities and reassure investors it can meet fiscal targets, the government said the regions had committed to slash spending by 13 billion euros ($16.52 billion) and increase revenues by 5 billion euros ($6.35 billion). ... |
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2012-05-18T08:37:56Z
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 MADRID (Reuters) - Spain, under pressure from the European Union to accelerate its bank clean-up, will name independent auditors on Friday to probe bad loans and property holdings in the financial sector and determine how big a state bailout is needed. The Spanish government has also hired Goldman Sachs to carry out an independent valuation of Bankia, the ailing bank taken over by the state last week, Spanish newspaper Expansion said. A spokeswoman for the economy ministry had no immediate comment. ...
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2012-05-18T08:24:24Z
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 Mitt Romney is on a charm offensive.
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2012-05-18T08:04:29Z
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LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Austerity measures Slovenia adopted last week could be delayed or even scrapped after two police unions said late on Thursday they wanted a referendum on the law. The referendum will be held if the unions collect 40,000 signatures within a month, a target they are likely to reach. If the majority of those who take part in the vote reject the austerity legislation, the government will be unable to pass a similar law for one year. Rejection would derail the conservative government's plan to bring the budget deficit down to around 3.5 percent of GDP. It soared to 6. ... |
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2012-05-18T08:03:48Z
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The House is debating a $642 billion defense budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 that adds billions of dollars to President Barack Obama's spending blueprint and rejects several of his proposals. The White House has threatened a veto. A look at some of the bill's disputed provisions: |
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2012-05-18T07:57:07Z
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A showdown looms in the House over whether to end the indefinite detention without trial of terrorist suspects, even U.S. citizens seized within the nation's borders. |
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2012-05-18T07:46:38Z
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 BEIJING (Reuters) - The nephew of blind activist Chen Guangcheng has been denied his family's choice of lawyers to defend a charge of "intentional homicide" in what one said was an attempt to manipulate a case that has focused world attention on China's human rights. The decision by police in Yinan in northeastern Shandong province is the latest in a series of moves to deny Chen Kegui legal representation and underscores the hardline stance taken against the family of Chen Guangcheng. Chen Guangcheng's escape from house arrest last month and subsequent refuge in the U.S. ...
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2012-05-18T07:40:41Z
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The Note’s Must-Reads are a round-up of today’s political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com Compiled by ABC News’ Carrie Halperin and Amanda VanAllen MITT ROMNEY ABC News’ Matt Negrin: “Mitt Romney Defends... |
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2012-05-18T07:37:57Z
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The early border skirmishes of Campaign 2012 are reviving questions about one candidate's former pastor and shining a spotlight on the other's high school hijinks. Can a fresh round of questions about President Barack Obama's birth certificate be far behind? |
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2012-05-18T07:17:44Z
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PARIS (Reuters) - Greece's European partners took too long to help the country and the goal must now be to spur economic growth as well as cutting the debts of the euro zone country, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Friday. "Greece needs to revive its economy. There are unused (EU) structural funds and what's needed now is help to secure that revival alongside putting its accounts back in shape," he told France Inter radio. "We waited too long before helping Greece. This has been going on for two years now and only gets worse," he said. ... |
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2012-05-18T06:56:30Z
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 BEIJING (Reuters) - Three retired Chinese Communist Party officials issued a call on Friday for leaders to disclose their family wealth before a looming succession, warning that a scandal over the fallen politician Bo Xilai has exposed dangerous abuses of power. The retired officials, led by Ma Xiaoli, have long been out of power and proposals from them and other party reformers have little prospect of shaping China's leadership succession, which will be settled at the party's 18th congress later this year. ...
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