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At NATO summit, warm welcome for most leaders, but not Pakistan's
President Obama won't meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. U.S. officials are furious over Pakistan's refusal to reopen supply routes to Afghanistan.
By David S. Cloud and Kathleen Hennessey, Los Angeles Times
As thousands of protesters marched in the streets, President Obama welcomed more than 60 world leaders to his heavily guarded hometown for a NATO summit that will start the clock for America and its allies to begin pulling combat troops from Afghanistan.
The two-day summit, the largest in the 63-year history of the military alliance, came as White House officials made it clear they were furious overPakistan's continued refusal to reopen ground routes used to move fuel and other war supplies into Afghanistan, a six-month standoff that the White House had hoped to resolve before Obama arrived in Chicago.
A leftist leader's call to nationalize banks has unnerved middle-class Greeks, whose withdrawals are fueling a drain on deposits of about $1 billion a day from an already threatened financial system.
Eva, a well-groomed pensioner, grasps her creamy white purse, glancing impatiently at her gold Cartier watch as she waits for the manager of an Athens bank. She is offered tea, cookies and orange juice, none of which the state bank usually provides, and none of which Eva accepts.
"I'm concerned," says the 82-year-old, who declined to give her last name because she was involved in a private transaction. "I'm thinking of withdrawing all my savings."
Greek banks have been bleeding money since inconclusive elections this month, and the rise of a Marxist-Leninist leader bent on bustingBerlin'sausterity crusade, plunged the country into the biggest political crisis in decades and raised the specter of a devastating default.
Cops: NATO summit protesters held over Molotov cocktail plot
By The Associated Press
Three protesters at the NATO summit in Chicago have been charged with terrorism conspiracy stemming from allegations that they planned to make Molotov cocktails, police said.
Chicago police Lt. Kenneth Stoppa told The Associated Press early Saturday that the three were being held on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism, possession of an explosive or incendiary device and providing material support.
He said they would face a bond hearing later Saturday morning.
Stoppa identified the men charged as 20-year-old Brian Church, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; 24-year-old Jared Chase, of Keene, N.H.; and 24-year-old Brent Vincent Betterly, of Oakland Park, Mass.
Given the escalating crisis in Greece, the future of the Eurozone is expected to dominate the talks, raising the stakes for the summit and for Obama.
By Don Lee, Los Angeles Times
May 18, 2012
For months, President Obama has been urging his European allies to balance their zeal for spending cuts with policies to spur economic growth. His pleas have mostly been ignored.
But now, as Obama prepares to host the Group of 8 industrialized nations' summit Friday and Saturday, his pro-growth argument has taken on new force - and some measure of desperation.
The G-8 gathering at Camp David will cover an array of topics, but given the escalating crisis in Greece, the future of the Eurozone is expected to dominate the talks, raising the stakes for the summit and for Obama.
Is China's crackdown on foreigners about crime or illegal immigration?
By Ed Flanagan, NBC News
BEIJING - China has launched a 100-day crackdown against illegal immigration and illegal employment in the wake of a high-profile sexual assault case involving a British national who was videotaped allegedly attempting to force himself on a Chinese woman.
The disturbing three-minute video surfaced on the Internet last week and has been viewed more than 8 million times on the Chinese video-sharing website youku.com, provoking outrage across China's web-sphere.
Mexico's leading presidential candidate is handsome, popular and still a mystery
By Nick Miroff and William Booth, Published: May 14
ATLACOMULCO, Mexico - In his campaign for president, Mexico's handsome front-runner, Enrique Peña Nieto, looks down from towering billboards with a movie-star smile. "Tu me conoces," he says. You know me.
With the July 1 presidential vote only weeks away, Peña Nieto holds a solid double-digit lead in the polls. But Mexican voters and U.S. observers confess that they do not really know what the candidate stands for. Nor are they sure how he would govern Mexico, a vital trade partner for the United States, Mexico's ally in the fight against drug cartels.
Journalist expelled from China reflects on experience
Melissa Chan of Walnut is the first accredited foreign correspondent to be barred from China in 14 years. She is not sure what prompted her expulsion.
By Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times
After filing 400 stories from China, reporter Melissa Chan never thought she'd wind up in the headlines herself.
Chan returned to Southern California last week as the first accredited foreign correspondent to be expelled from China in 14 years, an act that sparked a flurry of news reports and expressions of solidarity from fellow journalists.
Chan, who was the sole Al Jazeera English correspondent in China, said she knew she was on shaky ground for most of this year.
U.S. May Scrap Costly Efforts to Train Iraqi Police
By TIM ARANGO
Published: May 13, 2012
BAGHDAD - In the face of spiraling costs and Iraqi officials who say they never wanted it in the first place, the State Department has slashed - and may jettison entirely by the end of the year - a multibillion-dollar police training program that was to have been the centerpiece of a hugely expanded civilian mission here.
What was originally envisioned as a training cadre of about 350 American law enforcement officers was quickly scaled back to 190 and then to 100. The latest restructuring calls for 50 advisers, but most experts and even some State Department officials say even they may be withdrawn by the end of this year.
The training effort, which began in October and has already cost $500 million, was conceived of as the largest component of a mission billed as the most ambitious American aid effort since the Marshall Plan.
Afghan commanders show new defiance in dealings with Americans
By Kevin Sieff
Afghan commanders have refused more than a dozen times within the past two months to act on U.S. intelligence regarding high-level insurgents, arguing that night-time operations to target the men would result in civilian casualties, Afghan officials say.
The defiance highlights the shift underway in Afghanistan as Afghan commanders make use of their newfound power to veto operations proposed by their NATO counterparts.
For much of the past decade, NATO commanders have dictated most aspects of the allied war strategy, with Afghan military officers playing a far more marginal role. But with the signing of an agreement last month, Afghans have now inherited responsibility for so-called night raids - a crucial feature of the war effort.
ROME, N.Y. - Walking through his high-ceilinged factory here, explaining the production of sheets of copper, M. Brian O'Shaughnessy comes across as a staunch advocate of manufacturing in America. But he invariably adds: "There is nothing made in the United States that has to be made here - that can't be shipped in from some other country."
As chairman and principal owner of Revere Copper Products, Mr. O'Shaughnessy runs one of America's oldest manufacturing companies, started by Paul Revere himself, a fact that exerts considerable pressure. As he put it: "What kind of a message are you sending to the people of the country if you abandon America?"
The president faces considerable risk in the heat of a close election
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage on Wednesday was by any measure a watershed. A sitting United States president took sides in what many people consider the last civil rights movement, providing the most powerful evidence to date of how rapidly views are moving on an issue that was politically toxic just five years ago.
Mitt Romney reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage on Wednesday but declined to condemn President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage, noting the sensitivity of the issue.
Mr. Obama faces considerable risk in jumping into this debate, reluctantly or not, in the heat of such a close election. The day before he announced his position, voters in North Carolina - a critical state in Mr. Obama's re-election plan and the site of the Democratic convention this summer - approved by a 20-point margin a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. It was the 31st state to pass such an amendment.
Report: Secret US program releases Afghan insurgents in exchange for peace pledges
By Reuters
WASHINGTON -- The United States has been secretly releasing detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan as part of negotiations with insurgent groups, the Washington Post reported in its Monday editions.
The "strategic release" program has allowed American officials over the past several years to use prisoners as bargaining chips to reduce violence in restive provinces, it said, citing U.S. officials who it said spoke on condition of anonymity.
The freed detainees are often fighters who would not be released under the legal system for military prisoners in Afghanistan. They must promise to give up violence, the report said.
Hundreds of pelicans die; stay away from beaches, Peru urges
By Reuters
LIMA, Peru - Peru's government declared a health alert along its northern coastline on Saturday and urged residents and tourists alike to stay away from long stretches of beach, as it investigates the unexplained deaths of hundreds of dolphins and pelicans.
At least 1,200 birds, mostly pelicans, washed up dead along a stretch of Peru's northern Pacific coastline in recent weeks, health officials said, after an estimated 800 dolphins died in the same area in recent months.
The Health Ministry recommended staying away from beaches, though stopped short of a ban, and called on health officials to use gloves, masks and other protective gear when collecting dead birds.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other '9/11 plotters' back in court
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks are to be charged by a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.
The BBC 5 May 2012
An earlier attempt was halted three years ago when President Barack Obama tried to shut Guantanamo down.
New rules for Guantanamo trials have been since introduced, including a ban on evidence obtained under torture.
However, defence lawyers still say the system lacks legitimacy, because of restricted access to their clients.
President Obama's efforts to hold Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's trial in New York foundered in the face of political and public opposition and it will now be held at a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, as previously planned
China says prominent dissident Chen Guangcheng can apply to study abroad, potentially indicating a way out of the diplomatic crisis with the US over him.
The BBC 4 May 2012
A foreign ministry statement said Mr Chen could "apply through normal channels in accordance with the law".
The blind dissident fled house arrest last month and spent six days inside the US embassy. He left but now says he wants to go to the US with his family.
His case has overshadowed high-level US-China talks taking place in Beijing.
"If he wishes to study overseas, as a Chinese citizen, he can, like any other Chinese citizens, process relevant procedures with relevant departments through normal channels in accordance to the law," Xinhua news agency quoted spokesman Liu Weimin as saying.
