World News

A riot police officer tries to avoid a stone and a flare during clashes in central Athens, Thursday, March 11, 2010.

photo: AP / Nikolas Giakoumidis

Euro zone agrees bailout for Greece
read more China Daily

LONDON - The euro zone has agreed a multi-billion euro bailout for heavily indebted Greece as part of a package to support the euro, the Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday. The 16 euro zone members have agreed on "coordinated bilateral contributions" in the form of loans or loan guarantees to Greece if Athens is unable to refinance its debts...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton answers students' questions during a meeting with students at Ewha Women University in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 20, 2009.

photo: AP / Lee Jin-man

Clinton Rebukes Israel for Housing Announcement
read more The New York Times

WASHINGTON — In a tense, 43-minute phone call on Friday morning, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s plans for new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem sent a “deeply negative signal” about Israel-American relations, and not just because it spoiled a visit by...

An aerial view of earthquake damaged vehicles in Constitucion, Chile, Friday, March 12, 2010.

photo: AP / Cristobal Fuentes

Chile faces $30B price tag for quake recovery, but in better position to pay than Haiti
read more Star Tribune

SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile may need to spend twice as much as Haiti to recover from its devastating quake and tsunami, but it doesn't have the same desperate need for international aid or generous loans. Thanks to surplus stashed away in better times, Chile will be able to finance much of its own reconstruction from last month's disaster. On Friday,...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, right, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speak during a signing of agreements in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 12, 2010.

photo: AP / Manish Swarup

India, Russia sign nuclear pacts, seal Gorshkov deal
read more The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Infusing new vigour in their time-tested ties, India and Russia on Friday signed a slew of pacts, including three nuclear accords that could see Moscow building at least 12 more nuclear reactors, and sealed the price of refitted aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov at $2.3 billion. Ending years of stagnation in their economic ties, the two...

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, left, watches, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy speaks at a joint press conference at 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, March 12, 2010.

photo: AP / Dan Kitwood

Brown, Sarkozy slam US 'protectionism' over plane
read more The Press Democrat

A European-led consortium pulled out of bidding this week for the $35 billion contract, saying the Pentagon was favoring rival American bidder Boeing. "This is not the right way for the United States to treat its European allies," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said. "If they want to be spearheading the fight against protectionism, they shouldn't...

Pakistani soldiers are seen at the site of bombing in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, March 12, 2010.

photo: AP / K.M. Chaudary

Suicide bombs kill 43, wound 100 in Pakistani city
read more The Associated Press

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) -- A pair of suicide bombers targeting army vehicles detonated explosives within seconds of each other Friday, killing at least 43 people in this eastern city and wounding about 100, police said. It was the fourth major attack in Pakistan this week, indicating Islamist militants are stepping up violence after a period of...

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrives to speak at the Iraq Inquiry in London, Monday, March 8, 2010.

photo: AP / Matt Dunham

Miliband's grand Middle East delusion
read more The Guardian

There is a common ritual that I, like most Britons, have regularly encountered when riding a taxi in Damascus, Amman or Cairo over the past seven years. Talkative and curious, most cabbies will immediately ask where you are from and, on hearing London, raise the usual questions about Tony Blair and Iraq. Seven years after the invasion, British...

Nobel peace prize laureate and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Aung San Suu Kyi speaks to reporters during a press conference in Rangoon Tuesday, March 4, 1997.

photo: AP / Jerry Harmer

Myanmar's Suu Kyi denounces new law
read more Al Jazeera

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader, has denounced the military government's new laws passed earlier this week that bar her from running for office as "unjust" and "repressive". Commenting for the first time since the set of five laws were passed on Monday, she said she is surprised but undaunted by the laws which will also bar her from...

Pakistan's security officials and investigator gather near an army truck damaged by suicide bombing in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, March 12, 2010.

photo: AP / K.M. Chaudary

Dozens die in double suicide attack
read more London Evening Standard

At least 39 people have died after two suicide bombers targeting army vehicles detonated explosives within seconds of each other in the Pakistani city of Lahore. The co-ordinated strike was the fourth major attack in Pakistan this week, indicating Islamist militants are stepping up violence after a period of relative calm. Six...

Armed with batons and shields, Thai soldiers march into the government house compound to provide security Friday, Oct. 16, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand.

photo: AP / Apichart Weerawong

Bangkok on alert ahead of rally
read more Al Jazeera

Authorities in Thailand have ramped up security in Bangkok, bracing for possible clashes as hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters converge on the city. Protesters led by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship – popularly known as the "red shirts" - started assembling around the country on Friday with a plan to stage...