President Barack Obama, in Warsaw Saturday, praised Poland as an example for aspiring democracies in the Middle East and elsewhere. The president also reassured Poles about the U.S. commitment to ensuring their security.
President Obama, at a Warsaw news conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, said Poland has overcome extraordinary challenges and built a successful democracy. And he said Poland can use its experience to serve as an example for new democracies in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
"Poland can play an extraordinary role, precisely because they have traveled so far so rapidly over the last 25 years," said the president.
Earlier in the day, Obama and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski met with some of the activists who brought democracy to Poland to discuss their recent efforts to help Tunisia start a democracy.
President Obama reaffirmed that the United States remains committed to Poland's security, and that the so-called "reset" in ties with Russia will help calm tensions in the region.
"What we want to do is to create an environment in this region in which peace and security are a given. That is not just good for this region, it is good for the United States of America. And we will always be there for Poland," he said.
The president reassured his Polish hosts that despite Russia's objections, the U.S. will base fighter jets in Poland, and will go ahead with its planned missile defense system.
"We believe that missile defense is something where we should be cooperating with the Russians, because we share external threats, and this would not be a threat to the strategic balance that Russia is concerned with," he said.
Warsaw was the final stop in Obama's six-day trip to Europe. In Poland, as in Ireland, Britain and France, the president emphasized the importance of U.S.-European relations. "It is fitting that I conclude my trip here in Poland. At each stop I have affirmed the fact that America's transatlantic alliance is the cornerstone of our engagement in the world," he said.
Obama concluded his European tour by paying respects at a memorial to the late Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others, many of them top government officials, who died in a plane crash in April 2010.
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Egypt has eased restrictions on border crossings for pedestrians from the Gaza Strip. Palestinians see it as a big step toward ending a four-year-old blockade that Israel and Egypt have imposed on the enclave.
A Palestinian border policeman puts a stamp on the passport of Mahmoud al-Hams, a Gaza resident who says he has not left the enclave for years. He is among the first of hundreds who arrived at the Rafah border terminal Saturday before boarding a shuttle bus that would take him past a gate into Egypt.
He says he is very happy that he can finally go out and see the world.
Egypt began easing restrictions on this border crossing earlier this year following the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, opening this crossing sporadically for those with special permits that were granted on the basis of medical and other needs.
Now, the crossing is supposed to have regular hours and be open generally to anyone other than men between the ages of 18 and 40.
Those crossing on Saturday hailed the loosening of restrictions as a relief after years of a closure imposed by Israel and Egypt. Gaza resident Sabri Matar is going to Egypt for medical treatment. He thanks the Egyptians for understanding the suffering of the Palestinians and opening this crossing.
Egypt under Mubarak cooperated with Israel's closure of the Gaza Strip following a violent takeover of Gaza by the militant Islamist group Hamas. The group, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and others, was also viewed as a threat by Mubarak.
Egypt decided to ease restrictions after Hamas recently signed a reconciliation agreement with the rival Fatah faction that runs the West Bank.
Hamas sees the interim government that replaced Mubarak as more sympathetic to the Palestinians' cause, and on Saturday praised Egyptians' decision to loosen restrictions.
Speaking at the border crossing Saturday, Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, called it the start of a new era of freedom for the people of Gaza and of closer cooperation with Egypt.
"The crossing is a fruit [of] the Egyptian revolution and a fruit of the reconciliation. I hope the opening of the crossing will support the reconciliation, first of all, and support the relationship between the Egyptians and the Palestinians," he said.
Israel is watching events on the border with concern. Israeli officials have warned that Egypt's loosening of restrictions could open the way for terrorists and arms smugglers.
The loosening of the border crossing restrictions applies only to pedestrians. Along with Israel, Egypt continues to restrict the passage of most goods and vehicles into the Gaza Strip.
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Several huge explosions rocked Tripoli on Saturday as NATO carried out rare, daytime airstrikes.
NATO says it targeted a vehicle storage area in a complex where leader Moammar Gadhafi sometimes lives.
The French news agency (AFP) says white smoke could be seen rising from the blast site. Earlier Saturday, explosions from NATO airstrikes lit up the night sky over Tripoli.
Meanwhile, Russia - Libya's long-time ally - has offered to mediate a deal to help oust Gadhafi.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Gadhafi "should leave." The Russian leader commented Friday at the end of a G8 summit in France, where he also announced that he was sending an envoy to the Libyan rebel stronghold Benghazi. Several Western powers have previously called for Gadhafi's departure.
Earlier Friday, forces loyal to Gadhafi renewed efforts to regain control of rebel-held Misrata, Libya's third largest city. Fierce fighting between the two sides took place in several parts of the city.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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The U.N. refugee agency is appealing to international donors to step up aid for thousands of refugees and migrant workers caught up in deadly disturbances over the past week at a camp near the Tunisia-Libya border. The UNHCR is also urging countries to resettle refugees who cannot safely return to their home countries.
Serious disturbances broke out May 22 in Choucha camp in Eastern Tunisia. A fire at the camp killed four Eritreans and destroyed 20 tents.
Until then, more than 4,000 migrant workers and refugees, mainly from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan who fled the conflict in Libya had been living in the camp. Many had been waiting for more than two months to be transported home or to another country of refuge.
U.N. refugee spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says the pressure of not knowing when they would be repatriated became overwhelming, and this provoked a violent reaction.
She says a U.N. team investigated the situation Wednesday and found two-thirds of the camp had been destroyed or looted.
"We have been trying ever since with the help of the Tunisian military to help the people who have been disbursed-at least to help them have temporary shelter, temporary mattresses, food and drink until we can figure out the best way to reconstruct the camp," said Fleming.
Fleming calls this a very complex situation. She notes the people are of many different nationalities, with different needs. She says many are migrant workers who are awaiting evacuation to their home countries. Others are refugees who cannot be evacuated because their home countries are too unstable.
"We are actually again calling on donor and resettlement countries to contribute additional help for both the IOM (International Organization for Migration) humanitarian evacuation program and also to step up their slots for resettlement for the refugees who need it. As you know, Tunisia has seen massive displacement across its borders and the pressures that resulted are not easing - they are not easing," said the spokeswoman.
Fleming says the pressures will not ease and solutions will not be found unless donors give generously to support these vital repatriation and resettlement programs.
The U.N. refugee agency so far has received just over $48 million out of the $80 million it needs until August to respond to the emergency in Tunisia.
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A mediator says Yemen's president and the country's most powerful tribal leader have agreed to end five days of urban gunbattles that threatened to push the country into civil war.
At least 115 people have died in the clashes.
The battles pitted President Ali Abdullah Saleh's security forces against those of Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, the leader of the Hashid tribe. The battles have become the most serious threat to President Saleh's grasp on power after three months of opposition protests.
The two sides have agreed to withdraw their forces from the Hassaba neighborhood in the capital, Sana'a starting Sunday morning.
The tribal leader, a former ally of Mr. Saleh, has joined the protesters who want the Yemeni president to step down after 32 years of authoritarian rule.
In another development, Yemeni security officials said three French aid workers are missing and feared kidnapped.
The French Foreign Ministry in Paris confirmed the disappearance of two women and a man in southeastern Yemen but did not confirm a kidnapping.
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A major U.S. newspaper says top Pakistani military officials are increasingly concerned their ranks have been infiltrated by Islamists who are aiding militants in a campaign against the state.
The Washington Post reported late Friday those concerns have grown "especially acute" since U.S. commandos killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in a secret raid earlier this month in Pakistan.
The newspaper says the top Pakistani military commander, General Ashfaq Kayani, was "shaken" by the discovery of bin Laden near a prestigious military academy.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unannounced visit to Islamabad where she met with Pakistan's president, prime minister and other top officials.
She said the U.S. has "absolutely" no reason to believe that anyone in the highest level of Pakistan's government knew were bin Laden was. However, Clinton said Pakistani leaders were forthcoming in saying "somebody, somewhere " was providing support to bin Laden and that Pakistan was conducting a probe.
The Washington Post reports the Pakistani military's infiltration concerns were also fueled by an attack this week on a Karachi naval base by heavily armed insurgents. The newspaper says the attack is "widely believed to have required inside help."
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.
Tens of thousands of Ethiopians have turned out in Addis Ababa's main square to mark Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's 20th anniversary in power. A "day of rage" counterdemonstration planned by democracy activists failed to materialize.
The turnout at Addis Ababa's Meskel Square was a fraction of the one million predicted. And with thunder clouds hanging overhead, a scheduled four-hour event was cut in half.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's nationally televised anniversary address lasted little more than five minutes. It was largely a patriotic appeal for support of construction of a massive dam that is challenging Egypt's long-standing monopoly over the Nile River waters.
The controversial $5 billion hydropower project is being financed almost entirely with domestic funds in the absence of support from international lending institutions. Meles called the dam an example of Ethiopia's fighting spirit.
He said "This dam has on it the fingerprints of every Ethiopian. It is not only a producer of energy, it is a certificate that shows the whole world we are the owners."
Small bands of youths ran through the crowd chanting "We will not let Egypt stop us from using our water."
Local physician Berhanu Gebremariam said he had come out to show support for the social progress of the past two decades. He said Ethiopia's determination to go it alone on the Nile dam project was a great source of national pride.
"Nile is the origin in our country. We haven't used it for decades, but now we woke up. We should use it, but that doesn't mean we are going to punish Egypt. Egypt is our neighbor. We share," he said.
Democracy activists had been using social networking websites such as Facebook to call for a North African-style "Day of Rage" against the government. But in a tightly controlled society where Internet penetration is less than 1 percent, there was no sign of any protests.
Government officials said the online campaign was mostly the work of dissident groups abroad, and has little domestic support.
A random sampling of public opinion on the streets of Addis Ababa Saturday found most people going about their regular business, staying clear of the demonstration. The capital is known as a hotbed of anti-government sentiment, but residents expressed little enthusiasm for public protests.
The last major demonstrations in the streets of Addis ended in bloodshed following the disputed 2005 elections. Nearly 200 opposition activists died when government forces opened fire on the demonstrators.
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A suicide bomber has struck a governor's compound in northern Afghanistan, killing at least seven provincial officials and NATO coalition soldiers.
The spokesperson for Takhar province, Faiz Mohammad Tawhedi, said the bomber was wearing a police uniform Saturday morning when he attacked a meeting in Takhar province's Taloqan city.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Tawhedi said General Dawood Dawood, the police commander in northern Afghanistan and a former deputy interior minister, is among the dead. He said a provincial police chief, Shah Jahan Noori, and three NATO soldiers from Germany were also killed.
Authorities say 10 people were also wounded in the explosion, including the provincial governor.
In other news, Afghanistan's president has ordered NATO forces to stop conducting "special operations and night raids."
In a statement Saturday, Hamid Karzai said Afghan forces should conduct these missions itself. Karzai has criticized NATO's nighttime raids, which are unpopular among Afghans, and are blamed by many Afghans for causing civilian deaths.
But NATO defended the raids Saturday, saying they are necessary to gain ground against the leaders of the Taliban insurgency. The statement said NATO would work with Afghan forces to eventually transition the raids from NATO-led with Afghan participation, to Afghan-led.
Separately, NATO said two British soldiers were killed Friday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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Representatives from north and south Sudan are meeting Saturday to discuss the disputed Abyei region that was seized by northern forces a week ago.
South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar traveled to Khartoum Saturday in an effort to lower tensions with northern officials. The visit comes as envoys from the north and south were also expected to meet in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Abbas, in an attempt to end the crisis.
Southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir has called for a complete withdrawal of Sudanese government forces from Abyei saying the south did not want to return to war.
Southern officials say some 80,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, while United Nations officials say tens of thousands of people are living out in the open, with little food or fuel.
The U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan, Princeton Lyman, is heading to Qatar and then Sudan to discuss the Abyei situation. He is expected to urge Sudanese officials to settle unresolved north-south issues before the south declares independence on July 19.
Earlier this week, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on the African Union to stress to both sides a military showdown over Abyei is not an option.
The two sides have been at odds over the future of Abyei, an oil-rich region located on the north-south border.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has said the north-south border region will remain in northern hands.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Astronauts on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour are making preparations to return to Earth on the spacecraft's final flight. One of the astronauts says being in space has shown him the fragility of the Earth's environment.
Air Force Colonel Gregory Johnson is the shuttle pilot. This is his second mission on Endeavour, and it will be his last space shuttle flight. But he says it has been memorable, especially looking at Earth from the multi-windowed cupola of the International Space Station. "It's a wonderful experience to look at our Earth. One of my favorite places on the planet is a place in northern Michigan, Long Lake in Traverse City. And - it chokes me up thinking about it - I flew right over it yesterday and got some great photos of a wonderful place on our planet," he said.
This has been a landmark shuttle mission for Endeavour's crew. It completed four spacewalks - including the last spacewalk from a U.S. Shuttle; It completed the U.S. section of the space station, and astronaut Mike Fincke broke NASA's all-time record for the most time spent in space by an American late Friday (May 27) when he passed the 377-day mark.
The crew also deployed the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a sophisticated instrument that will yield insights into the composition and origins of the universe. On a personal level, Johnson said the mission helped him realize how fragile Earth's environment is. "When you look at the Earth's horizon and see the thickness of the atmosphere, it's not even the thickness of an orange peel. And so that fragile atmosphere makes me think greener (environmentally conscious) and do greener things and makes me better understand why it is so important to take care of our planet," he said.
The 49-year-old Johnson says the thing he will miss the most when the mission is over is the chance to fly a space shuttle. The pilot and mission Commander Mark Kelly will undock Endeavour from the Space Station and point it towards Earth on Sunday.
The shuttle is scheduled for a night landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday. It will later be retired to a museum in California. The final U.S. Space Shuttle flight - by Atlantis - is scheduled for liftoff June 8.
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The Obama administration says the resurgence of the automobile industry is a sign the economy is making great strides.
During its weekly address Saturday, Vice President Joe Biden said Chrysler Corporation repaid the taxpayer's bailout six years ahead of schedule this week, and General Motors, another recipient of the bailout, is now adding thousands of jobs to its payroll.
Biden says President Barack Obama remains focused on putting Americans back to work so they can support their families.
As the Memorial Day holiday approaches, the vice president said Americans should remember to support their military families.
Biden says gratitude can be shown to the men and women who sacrifice for the country's security and freedom by a simple expression of kindness, as modest as helping with a chore.
Watch Vice President Joe Biden's speech
In the Republican address, Republican Representative Eric Cantor from the eastern U.S. state of Virginia also urged Americans to pay tribute to the men and women who sacrificed their lives for the country's freedom.
He also said it was time to put Americans back to work by ending the government's reliance on what he described as "gimmicks."
The House majority leader called on the government to cut taxes and to reduce regulations that hamper businesses. Cantor also urged the Obama administration to complete several pending trade agreements with other countries and expand the search for energy sources in the U.S.
Watch Republican weekly address
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Officials in northwest Pakistan say a bomb blast has ripped through a restaurant at a market, killing eight people and wounding 10 other people.
Authorities say the attack happened Saturday at a bazaar in the Salarzai area of the restive Bajur tribal region near the Afghan border.
Local officials say two pro-government elders were among dead.
Taliban militants have targeted members of the Salarzai tribe in the past because the tribe has formed a militia to drive the militants out of the region.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is due to be inaugurated Sunday. He came to power in the political crisis that followed the prolonged illness and eventual death of former leader Umaru Musa Yar'adua. Ascending from the vice presidency, Jonathan vowed to continue the Yar'adua administration's focus on improving the economy and organizing free and fair elections.
Now on the eve of his own four-year mandate, Jonathan is facing high expectations from Nigerians who expect quick results.
"For the first time we have had an election that is close to what we expect, and he should not betray our cause," said property manager Alhaji Dauda Ibrahim Tsoho.
He adds that the president's biggest challenge is overcoming decades of blackouts. "He has promised electricity. That is what every Nigerian is looking forward to. We don't care how he is going to achieve it. But he will have no excuse whatsoever after that four years to tell us that there is no electricity in Nigeria. That we shall not forgive him," he said.
Small businessman Ignatius Onwuemele says foreign investors will go to places such as Ghana if the president does not solve Nigeria's power problem.
"There is no economy that you run in modern times with a generator and you expect that economy to survive. There is no economy anywhere in the world that is run on generator," he said.
As he looks to form a new cabinet, real estate agent Princess Idowu says Jonathan must choose carefully.
"He needs the right people to work with. He needs sincere people. Without the sincerity of the heart, he cannot achieve anything. He needs people who have the fear of God in them. You can not carry out anything, you can not execute any projects without people who have sincere hearts," said Idowu.
Attorney Christina Irabor says President Jonathan should improve security by better equipping the police force.
"If they are really provided for with all these things that they need to carry out their duties, I believe the insecurity nature of the country at the moment will be reduced," she said.
For property manager Romanus Agwuma, there will be more security if the president creates more jobs. "If our young youths are engaged in good jobs, they won't have time for robbery and crimes," said Agwuma.
Water seller Peace Godson says Jonathan must do more to close the gap between Nigeria's rich and poor.
"In this country, the rich keep on becoming richer," she said. "The poor keep on becoming poorer. As we voted for him we did not vote for him for ceremony. He should do something for the poor masses. Because if it is true that he was poor before he became rich, he should listen to us the poor masses not for those rich people who are clamoring for ministerial opportunities."
Godson says she has a university accounting degree and wants Jonathan to understand that she is selling bags of water in the market because she does not have enough money to bribe her way into one of the few jobs available.
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Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic has appealed for calm after his supporters announced a rally in Serbia's capital to protest his arrest and extradition to a war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Mladic's lawyer, Milos Saljic, told reporters Saturday in Belgrade that his client says he does not want to be the cause of unrest and there should be no bloodshed. Serbia's right-wing Radical Party announced demonstrations for Sunday outside the National Assembly in Belgrade.
Earlier Saljic said Mladic would appeal a Belgrade's court decision on Friday to extradite him to the U.N.-backed court to stand trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide. He said his client is physically and mentally unable to stand trial and that he would file an extradition appeal on Monday.
Mladic's son Darko claims his father's condition is critical, and the family will request for him to be examined by an independent team of doctors. The former general has been examined by physicians in the detention facility of Serbia's war crimes court and they have approved his transfer to The Hague.
Mladic was arrested Thursday in northern Serbia after 16 years of hiding. The U.N. tribunal on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia indicted him in 1995 for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide, in Bosnia during the 1990s Balkans conflict.
Mladic was indicted for his alleged role in the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys from the Bosnian town Srebrenica. He was also in charge of the three-year siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, which was noted for exceptional cruelty, including cutting off water supplies to the city and killing citizens waiting in line to get water or food.
Serbian officials say they will pursue and prosecute anyone who had helped Mladic avoid being captured over the years. President Boris Tadic also pledged efforts to capture the remaining top war crimes fugitive, Croatian Serb Goran Hadzic.
The U.N. Security Council welcomed Mladic's arrest. In a Friday statement, the council also said it was reiterating a commitment to ensure that there was no impunity for those responsible for "genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity."
Some Serbs have expressed outrage and disappointment about Mladic's arrest, saying he only defended Serbian interests.
But Mladic has lost support among Serbia's younger generation who want closer ties with western Europe.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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