Explosions rocked the Libyan capital, Tripoli, early Thursday, from what witnesses say were apparent NATO strikes.
Libyan government officials say at least four rockets targeted a compound in the capital that belongs to leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Meanwhile, the head of the opposition National Transition Council (NTC) is meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron and other officials in London on Thursday. Britain's Foreign Office says the meeting with Mustafa Abdel-Jalil will include talks on providing more non-lethal aide to Libyan rebels and the establishment of a permanent NTC office in London.
On Wednesday, a U.S. lawmaker announced plans to help the NTC. Senator John Kerry said he was drafting legislation to authorize the transfer Gadhafi's frozen assets to the opposition council. Kerry, who chairs the foreign relations committee, did not disclose the amount but said it would be enough to impact the crises faced by the council.
Libyan rebels in the besieged western city of Misrata said they had taken control of the municipal airport on Wednesday, following days of heavy fighting. The rebels said they seized large quantities of weapons and ammunition.
Opposition military sources in Misrata, including the commander at the airport, said the rebels had secured the entire facility, which had become the main base for pro-Gadhafi forces in the city.
Later Wednesday, Gadhafi made his first television appearance since a NATO airstrike on a house in Tripoli killed one of his sons and three grandchildren on April 30. Libyan state television filmed him at a brief meeting with tribal leaders. A projection screen behind Gadhafi showed Wednesday's date.
In another development, the U.S.-based GlobalPost news agency says two U.S. journalists detained by pro-Gadhafi forces in Libya have received their first visits since being taken into custody last month. Agency officials said Wednesday intermediaries had been allowed to meet with James Foley and Clare Morgana Gillis in Tripoli.
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Pakistani officials say a U.S. drone aircraft has fired missiles at a vehicle in the northwest tribal region near the Afghan border, killing at least five suspected militants.
The officials said the strike happened Thursday in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan.
It is the second suspected U.S. missile strike in the tribal region this week. Pakistani officials said a drone attack Tuesday killed at least three suspected militants in South Waziristan.
Pakistani officials have called for an end to the strikes, which they say violate the country's sovereignty. U.S. officials have never publicly acknowledged the use of drone strikes against militants inside Pakistan, but have privately confirmed their existence to various media outlets.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
Thousands of people spent the night outside in a southern Spanish city, fearing aftershocks following a pair of deadly earthquakes on Wednesday.
Officials in the popular tourist region of Murcia said Thursday at least eight people were killed in the quakes, which caused houses to collapse and damaged historic churches and buildings. The death toll was lowered from an earlier report of 10 people killed.
Aid workers gave blankets, food and water to residents as rubble and crushed cars littered the streets of the ancient town of Lorca.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the stronger 5.1-magnitude quake was one kilometer below the ground. A milder quake of 4.4 magnitude had hit the area shortly before.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero ordered the emergency military units to the region to help with rescue efforts.
Lorca, a town of about 90,000 people, dates back thousands of years and has an old town center with narrow streets.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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Syrian rights activists say government forces have fired on residential areas in the south and west of the country, killing at least 19 people in a crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad's autocratic rule.
The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria says tank shells and gunfire killed 13 people including a child in the southern village of al-Haraa Wednesday. Rights activists say the Syrian military also attacked several other villages near the southern town of Daraa, where the uprising began in mid-March before spreading nationwide.
In the west, rights activists say Syrian tanks and snipers killed at least six people in the Bab Amr neighborhood of Homs, the country's third largest city. Syrian forces have surrounded Homs as part of a security operation that began Monday.
Syria's state news agency says Syrian troops attacked what it calls "armed terrorist gangs" in Bab Amr and the southern region of Daraa Wednesday. It says the fighting killed two Syrian soldiers and wounded five others. The agency says Syrian troops also arrested dozens of armed fighters and seized weapons and ammunition.
The U.S. State Department sharpened its criticism of the Syrian crackdown Wednesday, accusing Damascus of engaging in "barbaric" and "repressive" measures that amount to "collective punishment of innocent civilians."
Spokesman Mark Toner said the Syrian government needs to realize that the "window is narrowing" for it to change course toward "meeting the legitimate aspirations" of the Syrian people.
Syrian rights activists say the number of people killed across Syria in the anti-government uprising ranges from 600 to 700. There is no independent confirmation of casualty figures because Syria has banned most international journalists from the country.
A senior U.S. official later told VOA that the tougher State Department language is partly a response to a Syrian presidential adviser's recent claim that U.S. statements on Syria were "not too bad." The adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, made the comment in a New York Times interview published earlier this week.
The U.S. official also said Syria's actions against protesters are "reaching an untenable point."
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a nonbinding resolution Wednesday, urging President Barack Obama to "speak out directly and personally to the people of Syria" as a show of U.S. support for the protests.
The senators, led by Independent Joe Lieberman, also condemned human rights violations in Syria and welcomed Mr. Obama's authorization of targeted U.S. sanctions against Syrian officials blamed for those abuses.
In other developments, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Syrian security forces arrested leading dissident Mazen Adi of the People's Democratic Party on Tuesday. Syrian authorities have detained thousands of protesters and dissidents in recent weeks in a bid to crush the uprising. Some have been released.
The London-based rights group says Syrian authorities have released about 300 people who were detained in the coastal city of Banias, where government forces began a crackdown on opposition protesters last week. It says the authorities made the detainees sign a pledge to stop demonstrating before releasing them.
In an apparent gesture to the opposition, the Syrian government formed a commission Wednesday to draft a new election law. Mr. Assad has announced several reforms in recent weeks, including the lifting of a 48-year state of emergency, while also intensifying his crackdown on the protests.
Mr. Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf is vowing the Assad family will "fight until the end." He made the comment in an interview with the New York Times published Wednesday.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged President Assad Wednesday to "desist from excessive force and mass arrests of peaceful demonstrators" and to heed calls for democratic reforms. Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, Mr. Ban also called on Syria to allow humanitarian workers to enter Daraa.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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The leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has warned the United States of more attacks in retaliation for last week's killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
In a statement posted on the Internet Wednesday, Yemen-based Nasser al-Wahishi told Americans not to fool themselves that the "matter will be over" with bin Laden's killing. He said the "ember of jihad is glowing brighter" and that "what is coming is greater and worse."
The warning came as U.S. Senator John Kerry announced he will travel to Pakistan next week to try and put bilateral relations "back on track" after the U.S. raid on bin Laden's compound in the northern garrison city of Abbottabad.
The raid May 2 has further strained relations between the U.S. and Pakistan.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers, said there may have been "elements" in Pakistan who knew bin Laden was hiding in the country but that, so far, there are no indications that senior Pakistani officials knew and provided a safe haven.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the "successful mission against a mass murderer" was entirely justified.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told lawmakers Wednesday that Pakistan should not allow its territory to be used for terrorism and he ordered a military probe into how bin Laden was able to live in the country undetected.
But opposition leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif rejected that investigation and instead demanded an independent inquiry led by Pakistan's chief justice into bin Laden and the U.S. raid that killed him.
Sharif also criticized Pakistan's intelligence agency for failing to detect the U.S. raid and repeated that the operation was a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty.
Gilani has rejected allegations that Pakistan's military and spy agency were complicit or incompetent in failing to detect bin Laden's presence. He also has criticized the U.S. raid, warning of "serious consequences" from such unilateral actions. Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he spoke to Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi by telephone Tuesday evening and conveyed his concerns about the need to protect the civilian population.
"I told him that the Libyan authorities must stop attacking civilians. I said there must be an immediate, verifiable cease-fire, negotiations towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict, and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers," explained Ban. "The prime minister agreed to receive my special envoy, Mr. al-Khatib, and I have instructed him to travel to Tripoli as soon as possible again."
Ban says the prime minister suggested his government is willing to engage in an immediate cease-fire, to be monitored by the United Nations and the African Union. But, first and foremost, the U.N. chief says violence in the besieged city of Misrata must end so humanitarian aid can reach those trapped by the fighting.
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Turning to Syria, Ban again urges President Bashar-al-Assad to listen to those who are calling for reform and freedom. He calls upon the Syrian security forces to desist from excessive force and mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators.
Ban says he spoke to Assad about four or five days ago and the Syrian president invited the United Nations' humanitarian assessment team to enter the country.
"I am disappointed that the United Nations humanitarian assessment team has not been granted access yet to Deraa and other places," said Ban. "We continue to press the Syrian authorities to grant access for the United Nations to be able to do an independent and impartial assessment of the situation in Deraa and other cities affected by the recent violence, and to plan a response and necessary humanitarian assistance."
The secretary-general says he will continue to press the Syrian authorities to allow the U.N. humanitarian assessment teams to visit areas of conflict to determine the critical needs of the civilian population.
On the political side, he urges the Syrian president to engage in a dialogue with his people and to take bold and decisive measures before it is too late.
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Libyan rebels in the besieged western city of Misrata say they have taken control of the municipal airport following days of heavy fighting, seizing large quantities of weapons and ammunition in a significant victory against forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi.
VOA's Elizabeth Arrott speaks about the changing picture in Libya:
Opposition military sources in Misrata, including the commander at the airport, said Wednesday that rebels have secured the entire facility, which had become the main base for pro-Gadhafi forces in the city.
The rebels entered the airport after a series of coordinated NATO airstrikes on government artillery batteries and military vehicles. The New York Times reported that by Wednesday evening, residents in the battered city, under siege for almost two months, began celebrating.
Late Wednesday, Mr. Gadhafi made his first television appearance since a NATO airstrike on a house in the capital, Tripoli, killed one of his sons and three grandchildren on April 30. Libyan state television filmed him at a brief meeting with tribal leaders. A projection screen behind Mr. Gadhafi showed Wednesday's date.
Meanwhile, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski visited the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi Wednesday to demonstrate European support for their cause and deliver medical aid. Sikorski told opposition leaders that the people of Poland and the EU "wish the Libyan nation victory in the transition to democracy."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday urged the Libyan government stop its assault and allow humanitarian access to civilians in need. Mr. Ban made the request during a phone call to to Libya's prime minister, al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi.
Also Wednesday, a leading U.S. senator said he is drafting legislation to authorize the transfer of Mr. Gadhafi's frozen assets to the opposition Transitional National Council. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did not disclose the amount of cash, but said it would be enough to impact the crises faced by the council.
Senator Kerry spoke after meeting in Washington with Libyan opposition leaders, including Mahmoud Jibril, head of the council's crisis committee.
Earlier, the U.N. refugee agency called on European nations and boat captains in the Mediterranean to rescue people fleeing Libya's conflict. Agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said Tuesday that any boat leaving Libya should be considered in need of assistance.
She urged governments and captains not to wait for distress calls but to head immediately to the vessels to see if the people on board are in need of help.
Fleming commented after a flimsy vessel reportedly overloaded with more than 600 passengers capsized Friday shortly after leaving Libya. At least 16 bodies have been recovered.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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The International Organization for Migration says about 1,000 people every day are arriving from Libya to northern Niger's main entry point of Dirkou, fleeing Libya's months-long conflict.
The head of IOM in Niger, Abibatou Wane, says many of the migrants are from Niger or other sub-Saharan African countries and arrive in poor condition after traveling through the desert without food or water.
"The conditions of the journey are very hard because they are coming by trucks from Libya into Niger, and the journey lasts from three up to five days," said Wane. "And they arrive in very bad condition. More and more, we are having families with children coming into Niger."
Wane says besides Dirkou, refugees are coming through Algeria and by plane from Tunisia or Egypt. About 60,000 in total have flooded the country since the beginning of the crisis.
Wane says when migrants first get across the border, IOM provides them with immediate humanitarian assistance before evacuating them to another city or their home countries.
Wane says Niger needs help because it is a costly operation to resettle so many people.
"Yeah, very expensive given also the geographical position of the area where we are operating. It's in the middle of the desert. It's far; hundreds and hundreds of kilometers. It's really a challenge," Wane said.
The IOM has appealed for more money to continue these operations.
Many of the migrants who fled Libya worked in low-paying jobs before anti-government rebels launched an offensive in February to depose longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Heavy fighting continues, raising the prospect that the flow of migrants into Niger will continue as well.
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Just one day before Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is sworn in for a fourth term in office, opposition leader Kizza Besigye was barred from re-entering the country Wednesday. He later said he was cleared to return but was still in Kenya late in the day.
With Uganda in the midst of civil unrest over the rising cost of living, the country's police and armed forces are tightening security in Kampala for the inauguration ceremony of President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday.
Tuesday saw a new and unusual tactic employed to quell the "Walk to Work" protests in Kampala as Uganda's police drenched protesters with pink paint and once again arrested opposition leader Norbert Mao.
The latest move, however, came Wednesday morning when opposition chief Kizza Besigye was barred from returning to Uganda after a week spent in a Kenyan hospital.
Besigye spent the majority of Wednesday seated in a VIP lounge at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport after being told to exit Kenya Airways flight 410, which was scheduled to arrive in Uganda just after 9:00 a.m.
Kenya Airways said it had received information that the plane would not be allowed to land at Entebbe International Airport if the opposition leader was on board.
Officials from the Ugandan government have denied a role in barring Besigye's return to Kampala.
But Wafula Ogutu, a spokesman for Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change rejected the denial.
"It is a lie. He was seated already in the plane. The air hostess who went to offload Dr. Besigye told him that her chief executive had received a request from the Uganda government - or information that they would not allow the plane to land in Uganda if Besigye was aboard," said Ogutu.
It now appears that Besigye will be allowed to return to Uganda, but may not arrive until Thursday. There is speculation among Uganda's opposition parties that the leader was barred to prevent any unrest during Thursday's inauguration ceremony. With Thursday declared a national holiday, opposition groups said the "Walk to Work" demonstrations would become "Walk to Pray" demonstrations instead.
Besigye told reporters at the Nairobi airport the protests would continue whether or not he was present and Ogutu told VOA there were plans for a response to Besigye's detention.
"We haven't decided what to do but definitely there will be something. We can't just let it pass like that. And hopefully Dr. Besigye will be allowed to come back tomorrow, which I think is not unlikely. It just further confirms that he is undergoing political persecution from the government of Uganda," said Ogutu.
Besigye has been arrested multiple times for leading the "Walk to Work" every Monday and Thursday since April to protest the rising cost of food and fuel in Uganda. The demonstrations have been met with overwhelming force by the Ugandan police and military and have been declared illegal by President Museveni. The president will take his fourth oath of office Thursday, extending his tenure as president to over 25 years.
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Violence between Egypt's Coptic Christians and conservative Muslims has led to calls for tolerance from some unlikely sources.
The allegiance of the men gathered outside a mosque in central Assyut is clear. But the man addressing the rally implores them to embrace those of other religions.
Aboud el-Zomour warns against interfaith violence that just days before in Cairo left 12 people dead.
An ex-army officer, former leader of Islamic Jihad, and prisoner for nearly 30 years for his role in killing the perceived infidel President Anwar Sadat, al-Zomour now presents himself as a messenger of peace.
He tells the crowd his group has "turned the page of violence, forever and with no return."
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Islamic Jihad, along with militant group Gamaa Islamiyah, were formed in response to the Muslim Brotherhood's rejection of violence in the 1970s. Their aim was to topple the Egyptian government who they say failed to improve the lives of Egyptian people, and betrayed the country by signing a peace treaty with Israel, the latter the justification for Mr. Sadat's killing.
In 1995, the two groups failed in their attempt to kill President Hosni Mubarak. Mr. Mubarak escaped unharmed and retaliated with a massive and ruthless crackdown on the groups' members and their families.
The movement had become paralyzed as thousands of Islamists were in custody, and thousands more had been cut down by the security forces. Mohamed Essam el din Derbala, a leader of Gamaa Islamiyah and colleague of al-Zomour, explains the militants' about face at this point.
Derbala says the government was able to justify its brutal crackdown on all Islamists because of the violence.
In March of this year, when the new military government released al-Zomour, his anger toward the former president was still evident. When he went on television to apologize for the Sadat assassination, his regret was not for taking a life, rather that it ushered in the Mubarak era.
As for now, both Derbala and al-Zomour stress there are no barriers to Islamists taking an open, peaceful part in Egypt's political life. Al-Zomour says he has no political aspirations, though the crowd in Assyut, once a bastion of Islamic extremism, hail him as a natural leader.
And the evening has definite political overtones. Al-Zomour blames interfaith violence on remnants of the old government, an effort to make good on the chaos that Mr. Mubarak warned would ensue should he resign.
The Islamist says that alleged plot won't work.
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He says the uprising that led Mr. Mubarak to step down was the work of all elements of society, Muslims and Christians, "even women."
The last is a rare concession to the role of women in political life. His conservative outlook is seemingly countered by the number of women who turn out to hear him speak, a few dozen compared to several thousand men.
The woman sit separately, on a balcony largely out of sight, with only an obscured view of the stage. What is visible across the rows of men below is a banner of Osama bin Laden. Asked why a personification of religious intolerance is being honored at the rally, Gamaa Islamiya's Derbala says it is a coincidence of timing.
Derbala says the group disagreed with bin Laden's methods, but praised him for his fight against the Soviets and later the Americans in Afghanistan. His legacy, he says, must be taken as a whole.
How deeply this brand of Islamism runs is hard to gauge.
Al-Zomour was imprisoned in 1981. Assyut, for one, has changed. Mr. Mubarak sought to counter the poverty that helped breed militancy with infrastructure and industry. And to some extent it seems to have worked. More importantly, Egypt has evolved, with this year's popular uprising showing, as al-Zomour acknowledges, other paths to change.
Some dismiss al-Zomour as a remnant of Egypt's past, unwilling to forget the murder of President Sadat. Others are more forgiving. Meena Hanna, the deputy of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchy in Assyut acknowledges al-Zomour's message and principles.
He says we respect the principles of every human being, adding, so long as that person respects our principles and our beliefs.
As for whether al-Zomour's professed devotion to tolerance can be taken at face value, the priest is more cautious.
Change is proven by action and reality, he says, not talk and words.
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The Mississippi River, which runs through the center of the United States and south to New Orleans, is flooding at near record levels. Both large cities and small towns along its banks are struggling to control a torrent of water from spring rain and runoff. In the small town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, some residents are preparing to evacuate.
In the Kings community of North Vicksburg, Mississippi, friends and relatives are helping Joann Parks pack up her worldly possessions. The flood waters in the area have risen a half meter in the last 24 hours. And there is fear they could reach her house within the next week.
"This is one of the higher areas in the Kings community. And like myself and a lot of others, we have homeowners insurance, but we don't have flood insurance because we have never been required to have it because it is not a flood area," said flood victim Joann Parks.
Vicksburg is an old river town where the waters of the mighty Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers meet. Known for its American Civil War history, it is a tourist town.
But heavy spring runoff and higher than average rainfall, hundreds of kilometers up river, have sent a torrent of water south, creating record flooding in five states.
In Vicksburg, the waters are currently 16 meters above flood stage, and will crest at 17.5 meters some time next week. Seventy-year-old Winston Holman has lived here all his life. "I have never seen the river as high as it is right now. And I hope I never see it get this high again. Because, it is hurting a lot of folks around here and a lot of businesses," he said.
The flooding is primarily in an industrial area south of downtown and in residential areas like the Kings community. Officials estimate the waters will flood 1,000 homes in the area.
Sixty-year-old Pop McDonald's house already has a meter of water in it. This is the second time he has been flooded out, but he says he will return when the waters recede. "I'm looking at least a couple of months. You now see how much damage it did, and how much repairs I got to have on it," he said.
Today is Joann Park's 61st birthday. She has lived in this house since she was 14 years old. This is the first time she has had to leave. There are many memories she holds dear, and deciding what to leave behind is painful. "It is just a lot of things that have got to go. Some of the things have got to go, some of the thing I don't know where we are going to store it. It's just hard, I know there is a lot of things we are not going to be able to save," he said.
Her brother has been helping to load a large moving truck loaned to her by a friend. Leaving is hard. But staying has not been easy either. "We have nightmares going to bed at night not knowing whether the water done traveled and it is in the yard or something," she said.
Joann says she will be out of this house within a few days, and doesn't know if she will return. She told us the one good thing from this experience is it has brought her closer to family and friends. She and her daughter will live with her best friend for a while, and wait for the floodwaters to rise and fall.
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Two earthquakes have rocked southern Spain, killing at least 10 people and injuring others.
The quakes hit Wednesday early evening in the popular tourist region of Murcia, including the ancient town of Lorca. The tremors caused houses to collapse and damaged historic churches and buildings.
The U.S Geological Survey said the epicenter of the stronger 5.1-magnitude quake was one kilometer below the ground. A milder quake of 4.4 magnitude had hit the area shortly before.
Television images showed frightened people in the streets of Lorca, strewn with rubble and crushed cars.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero ordered the emergency military units to the region to help with rescue efforts.
Lorca, a town of about 90,000 dates back thousands of years and has an old town centre with narrow streets.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Obama administration will soon send the U.S. Congress implementing legislation for free-trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea. Action on the trade accords, reached during the Bush administration, has long been stalled.
Clinton did not say when the implementing bills will go to Congress, but strongly suggested the long-awaited action will come soon.
The deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea were signed by the Bush administration in 2006 and 2007, with an expectation of swift ratification that would sweep away trade barriers and boost employment in the United States and the three other countries.
But action on the agreements faltered amid concern in the U.S. Congress about, among other things, labor and environmental standards in the three countries, and market access for U.S. farm products.
Progress made
Speaking at the annual Conference on the Americas, Clinton reported "great progress" on the trade deals. "We have worked with our Panamanian and Colombian partners to address key concerns and forge broader bipartisan support in the Congress, just as we did with the South Korean free-trade agreement," she said.
"Panama passed important new laws on labor rights and tax transparency. With Colombia we have established an action plan to address concerns about labor rights, violence and impunity. And Colombia has already taken important steps to implement this plan, and we are working hard to execute the next phase by June 15th," she added.
The Obama administration in recent days has won support from farm-state legislators for the South Korea free-trade deal by agreeing to seek consultations with that country on market access for U.S. beef exports.
Senate hearings on all three trade deals are expected later this month.
Economic gap
In her remarks, Clinton called political and economic strides in Latin America in recent years a "stunning transformation." But she lamented a continuing, huge gap between rich and poor in the region and said in many countries the wealthy are not paying enough in taxes to support public services.
"Let us be honest," she said. "There are still weak educational systems. There are still weak democratic institutions. There are still inadequate fiscal policies. There are still too few people of means paying their fair share of taxes to their government in order to support services for those who will otherwise be mired in generational poverty."
Venezuela
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela earlier told the gathering the United States remains very concerned about what he termed the "authoritarian tendencies" of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.
But Valenzuela said the Chavez government is under duress because of the country's poor economic showing, and said the opposition is gaining ground. He said overall, the influence of leftist leaders in Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba, the so-called ALBA group, appears to be waning.
"Where maybe four or five years ago a lot of people perceived that there was sort of an ascendancy of the ALBA group that they had a very significant strong voice in much of the hemisphere, we have seen in fact a greater degree of isolation. And they simply have lost a significant amount of ground," said Valenzuela.
The Chilean-born Valenzuela announced last week he will leave the Obama administration in a few months to return to the faculty of Washington's Georgetown University.
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Yemeni security forces have fired on tens of thousands of protesters demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, killing at least nine and wounding dozens at rallies in at least three cities.
In the capital, Sana'a, government troops, snipers and plainclothes security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition on a large crowd marching to the Cabinet building. Medical sources say the violence killed six protesters and wounded dozens of others. They said the number of dead is likely to rise.
Wednesday's march was part of the demonstrators' plan to escalate their opposition movement by holding repeated protests in front of state institutions.
Meanwhile, Yemen's main industrial city, Taiz, remained under siege for a third day, with security forces trying to contain huge street gatherings. Witnesses say pro-government snipers killed at least two demonstrators. Reports say several people were wounded from gunfire, tear gas and beatings by Yemeni security forces.
Protests also took place in the Red Sea port city of Hudaida as well as Ibb, Damar and Aden, with at least one death reported.
In neighboring Saudi Arabia, representatives of six Gulf nations urged Yemen's government and opposition leaders to sign an agreement that calls for President Saleh's resignation. The Gulf Cooperation Council made the call Tuesday as it wrapped up a summit.
In a joint statement, council members said their agreement represents Yemen's "best way" out of its political crisis and would "spare the country further political division and deterioration of security."
The plan calls for Mr. Saleh to hand over power to a deputy and step down within 30 days of signing the accord. It also calls for the establishment of a unity government that includes the opposition.
Mr. Saleh has refused to sign the agreement in his capacity as president. He says he will only sign it as leader of the ruling General People's Congress party. He told supporters last week he will resist calls for his resignation until a solution is found that meets constitutional standards.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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According to the FAO, the retail cost of wheat and rice in Asia declined slightly last month, the first drop in nine months.
The price of rice, Asia's staple, dropped two percent in Cambodia and Sri Lanka, and about half a percent in Bangladesh, it says. In India, the price of wheat declined seven percent.
The oil factor
But the FAO attributed the fall in food costs to a brief, sharp drop in the price of crude oil.
Despite the price drop in some places, the cost of rice from one year ago is still higher by 29 percent in Bangladesh, 25 percent in China and 40 percent in Vietnam and Laos.
The FAO's representative for the Asia-Pacific region, Hiroyuki Konuma, told reporters Wednesday that food prices across the region remain high and are hurting the poor most.
"So, negative impact of the retail price hike of food commodities, particularly of staple food like rice and wheat, it's affecting the poor households which spend as much as 70 percent of their income for food," Konuma said.
World food prices hit a record high in February as the cost of crude oil was driven up by political instability in the Middle East and North Africa.
The price of oil is closely linked to the price of food through transportation and processing costs.
Precautions
Konuma says countries need to take urgent precautions to prevent a repeat of the 2008 food price crisis when costs of some staples doubled in a matter of months. He recommends countries establish social security nets for the poor and emergency food reserves.
"And, improving the availability of food security and market information. This is one of the factors that create unnecessary speculation and also panic buying," he said.
The FAO expects about a two percent increase in rice production in 2011 but a slight decline in wheat production.
Despite rising prices, Konuma said food production is expected to meet global market demand but is still falling short of the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goal of halving the hunger rate by 2015.
The World Bank says since October rising food prices have pushed more than 40 million people into extreme poverty.
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The White House confirmed Wednesday that President Barack Obama will deliver a speech, possibly before his upcoming European trip, to renew his outreach to the Muslim world and lay out his vision for the Middle East amid ongoing popular uprisings there.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed earlier news reports that Mr. Obama plans to deliver what will be the second major address of his presidency directed broadly to the Muslim world as well as to people in the Middle East.
"The president will be giving an address in the relatively near future on the Middle East and U.S. policy in the Middle East," said Carney. "I think it is a speech to a broader audience than just the Arab world."
Carney did not give a date for the speech, but he said it would be "relatively soon." There are indications that Mr. Obama could deliver it before he departs on a trip to Britain, France and Poland, less than two weeks from now.
President Obama's plan for an address about developments in the Middle East was signaled in April by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, when she spoke to the Muslim-American World Forum here in Washington.
Statements by White House officials in recent months have framed themes Mr. Obama will likely sound in his address.
One is that uprisings in North Africa and the Mideast signal a new era that will work against extremist views, including efforts by al-Qaida to speak for the needs and aspirations of Muslims.
A Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday quoted Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, referring to a "coincidence of timing" with the killing of Osama bin Laden and "a model emerging in the region of change that is completely the opposite of bin Laden's model."
In 2009, Mr. Obama delivered a speech in Cairo in which he addressed change in the region, and said violent extremism must be confronted "in all of its forms."
It is unclear whether President Obama will use the address to make new proposals aimed at reviving the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
Efforts to remove obstacles to Mideast peace have been complicated by a recent decision by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to form a unity government with Hamas in Gaza. The United States and the European Union have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
On May 24 during his visit to Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address the U.S. Congress.
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Farmers across the United States are heading to the fields to plant crops at a time when commodity prices are rising as global demand surges. Many farmers are hopeful this year's crop could be one of the best on record.
Farmer Monty Whipple is several weeks behind schedule. Rain and cold temperatures delayed plans to start planting in the middle of April. But Whipple is making progress, thanks to a heat wave in the Midwest state of Illinois.
"If we get all this corn planted here in the next week or so, I'm not too concerned about it," Whipple explained.
Whipple is planting corn at a time when demand for his product is strong. While demand is up, so is the cost of doing business.
"All commodity prices are high," he added. "Cotton is exceptionally high. Commodities such as oil obviously, exceptionally high, all the talk about high fuel costs and gasoline costs and so on."
Farming is a family tradition for Whipple. He tends to fields once harvested by his father and uncle. The farmer says when they lived off the land the demand for their goods was primarily domestic. But in a global economy, the business of farming has changed.
"It's no longer a U.S. economy, or U.S. demand," Whipple noted. "It's a worldwide demand, and as we've seen over and over again, partially because of our own doing by buying Chinese products, by buying products made in Vietnam and India - foreign countries - Korea, we're making their middle class, so called, more affluent."
That new, affluent middle class Whipple refers to is fueling the demand for his crop.
"For the last three years, world consumption has outpaced world production," noted Matthew Pierce who watches commodity prices for GrainAnalyst.com. "We now need to take a look at the changing diet of the world, specifically China and India once again, and look at how are we going to gain more acres either in the United States, Brazil or Argentina. Those are the only three countries that can truly produce and produce at a consistent rate where the world can count on it."
Pierce says until that acreage is identified, demand for corn, wheat, and soybeans from U.S. farmers should remain high. And that translates into more money when it comes time to sell the commodities, particularly this year.
"Farmers domestically in the United States should see one of the banner years they've had in their entire career," added Pierce. "We have strong basis, we have incredible demand, and we have acreage right now that offers nothing but upside incentive for the farmers."
As Monty Whipple looks to the future, when his crops head to market, he is mindful of the past. He says he isn't taking the high prices for granted.
"The first thing that goes through your mind when you are out planting is, you know, am I doing the best job I can to get the most out of this crop," said Whipple. "I mean every year is different. Just because you had a great year last year, there are so many unknowns every year in farming."
What is known is that corn, soybean, and wheat prices are high. But the great unknown every farmer faces - and in some cases can dread - is the weather, and whether or not there is an abundant crop to harvest in the fall.
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India's top court has turned down a plea to reopen a case aimed at getting a stronger punishment for those found guilty for the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, which killed thousands of people. The judgment has disappointed activists who have campaigning for more than a quarter century for stronger penalties for what is widely called the world's worst industrial disaster.
Public outrage
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court refused a plea by the government to reinstate stronger charges against seven Indian employees of U.S. chemical firm Union Carbide, whose plant in Bhopal leaked toxic gases on sleeping residents 27 years ago.
The two-year prison sentences handed down to them last year had triggered public outrage. Representatives for the victims complained those found guilty came off with relatively light punishments for a disaster that killed thousands and left tens of thousands more struggling with its consequences.
Bhopal victim activists say the seven men got away with light sentences because a 1996 court ruling had reduced the charge against them to the relatively minor one of death by negligence.
After the government promised to seek harsher penalties, public prosecutors approached the top court last August to reopen the trial and restore the more serious charge of culpable homicide.
But the Supreme Court has said the government has not given sufficient reason to build a case of culpable homicide. The court also questioned why the government waited for 14 years to reinstate the stronger charges. Victims speak out
Victims in Bhopal and activists expressed deep disappointment with the verdict.
Survivor Rasheeda Beehas, who been on the forefront of the fight for justice for the Bhopal victims, says it has been established that negligence of officials of the Union Carbide plant in India and the United States caused the disaster, and she had hoped that the Supreme Court would ensure that those guilty of causing so many deaths and so much suffering would get 20-year prison terms.
Rachna Dhingra is an activist with the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, which is working to rehabilitate victims and get speedier justice for them. She blames the government's investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, for mishandling the case.
"Here we are stuck with a prosecution that really has no interest, no competence in fighting this case," she said. "This attitude has to change."
The activists and campaigners have promised to carry on their fight.
Seeking justice
The government says it is doing its best to see that justice is done. It has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court to seek higher compensation for the victims from Dow Chemical company, which bought Union Carbide in 2001.
Under the original compensation package, which was brokered in 1989, Union Carbide agreed to pay the Indian government $470 million in damages.
The Indian government says 3,500 people died in the days after the disaster. Activists put the toll at more than 20,000, pointing out that many have died in the years since from the lingering effects of the toxic leak.
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The once frosty relations between Egypt and Iran have notably thawed in recent months. Contacts between the two nations have moved to the point where Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister will go soon to Cairo for talks, as well as planned meetings between Iran and Egypt's Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement meeting.
It had not been seen for some three decades. On February 22, two Iranian naval ships passed through Egypt's Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea. By itself, it was an uneventful transit. But seen in a larger context, the passage represented renewed relations between the two nations.
In earlier times, Egypt and Iran were bonded by marriage. Iran's monarch, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, wed Egypt's Princess Fawzia Fuad in 1939. Though the couple later divorced, the two nations maintained diplomatic relations until Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Then, Tehran froze relations - after Egypt took in the Shah when he left Iran, and signed the Camp David peace accords with Israel.
The two nations remained distant through the 30-year rule of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who left office in February after massive protests against him.
Since then, Egypt's caretaker military government has begun a thaw with Iran. One aspect of that change is the recent Egyptian-brokered unity agreement between two warring Palestinian factions, Fatah, and Hamas - an agreement strongly backed by Iran. Potomac Institute analyst Tawfiq Hamid says the pact was meant to restore Egypt to a traditional leading mediation role, and reposition it away from its recent past.
"The Arabs and Palestinians considered that Egypt, during Mubarak's time, was pro-American, pro-Israel [and] anti-Palestinian. So, Egypt's position as the leading country in the Arab world was weakened. What happened when the [post-Mubarak] new regime or new system comes [came], they wanted to regain this leadership [role]. So, the fastest thing was to bring Hamas and Fatah [together]," he said.
In public, Egypt has characterized these overtures with Iran as moves toward normalization, and not toward embracement. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mehna Bakhoum has said, "We look at Iran as a neighbor in the region that we should have normal relations with. Iran is not perceived as an enemy as it was under the previous [Mubarak] regime, and it is not perceived as a friend."
Warmer relations with Iran and Hamas, are not just foreign diplomatic initiatives for Egypt. The change also reflects how the once-banned Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood, which supports Hamas, has gained influence ahead of Egypt's upcoming elections, as RAND analyst Ali Reza Nader points out.
"Egypt and Hamas are, in some ways, becoming closer. Egypt is lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip. The Muslim Brotherhood, which is linked to Hamas, [which] is an ally of Hamas in a lot of ways, is going to be a potentially big player in Egyptian politics," he said.
Other analysts say that while Cairo has warmed its relations with Iran, those moves have caused some other nations to react warily. And that, in turn, has prompted Egypt to make efforts to assure them, says Michele Dunne at the Carnegie Endowment.
"Egypt is also hearing, though, a lot of expressions of concern - from Saudi Arabia, from Israel, from the United States. And already, the Egyptian government has taken some steps to allay those concerns. The Egyptian prime minister went to Saudi Arabia not that long ago specifically to answer questions about this rapproachment with Iran, and how far it would go," he said.
But Egypt's Foreign Minister, Dr. Nabil al-Arabi, in a recent interview with the Washington Post newspaper, insisted that his country's thawing relations with Iran do not freeze out other nations, including the United States.
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President Barack Obama used the backdrop of the U.S-Mexico border on Tuesday for a major speech amplifying his calls for bipartisan reform of U.S. immigration laws.
Facing continuing opposition from congressional Republicans on how best to achieve comprehensive reform, Mr. Obama is trying to elevate the debate about finding a solution to what most agree is a broken immigration system.
On Tuesday, he traveled to El Paso, Texas, a major crossing point on the more than 3,100 -kilometer border with Mexico. As in other southwest states, illegal immigration is a hot topic in Texas where the percentage of the population that is Hispanic increased by 43 percent over the past decade.
In remarks after touring a cargo facility at the Bridge of the Americas, Mr. Obama listed steps he has taken to strengthen border security and cut down on illegal crossings, and said his administration has answered concerns voiced by opposition Republicans.
"We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement," said President Obama. "All the stuff they asked for, we have done."
Watch a related report by Kent Klein:
Briefing reporters this week, senior administration officials detailed those steps, which include more than doubling the number of border patrol agents to 20,700, and a plan to extend deployment of National Guard troops.
The administration has increased cooperation with Mexico in fighting drug cartel violence, intensified screening of rail and vehicle traffic, and nearly completed construction of a 1200 kilometer border fence. Officials also point to increased illegal drug and weapons seizures, and a 36 percent drop in illegal immigration attempts.
In El Paso, Mr. Obama repeated his call for Republicans to join him in finding common ground to enable a bipartisan solution to immigration reform.
"So, the question is whether those in Congress who previously walked away in the name of enforcement are now ready to come back to the table and finish the work that we have started," said Obama. "We have got to put the politics aside, and if we do, I am confident we can find common ground."
Mr. Obama did not set out any timeline for crafting immigration legislation. He offered broad policy brush strokes, including requiring illegal immigrants to pay a fine, learn English, undergo background checks and wait in line for legalization, and holding businesses accountable for exploiting undocumented workers.
The president still faces opposition from key congressional Republicans who assert that any comprehensive immigration bill should wait until the border is secure.
Senators Jon Kyl and John McCain, both from the southwestern state of Arizona, have proposed a 10 point plan they assert would achieve more control of the border. Among other things, it proposes to deploy at least 6,000 National guard troops and 5,000 additional border patrol agents.
Kyl spoke with reporters on Capitol Hill earlier in the day.
"I think almost everybody recognizes that until the border is secured, any hope of additional legislation dealing with the immigration problem is not likely to succeed in the Congress," said Senator Kyl.
In his remarks Tuesday, Mr. Obama also reiterated his goal of achieving passage of the DREAM Act. That legislation, which would allow undocumented youths to obtain legal residence status under specific conditions, was blocked in Congress.
President Obama's Texas remarks were the latest piece of what the White House intends to be an intensifying campaign on immigration reform, ahead of the 2012 presidential election.
It provided an opportunity for Mr. Obama to speak about the politically and economically significant immigration issue where it is of most intense concern, and appeal to Hispanic voters.
In the 2008 presidential election, Mr. Obama won the national Hispanic vote with 67 percent. He lost Texas, a Republican stronghold, to Senator John McCain by a 10 percent margin.
The president's day in Texas also included appearances at two Democratic Party fundraising events in Austin. Later this week, Mr. Obama continues his outreach to the nation's Hispanics when he appears at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in the nation's capital.
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Syrian government tanks pounded the Bab Amr district of the flashpoint city of Homs, intensifying pressure on opposition groups.
Retaliation?
Witnesses say Syrian Army tanks shelled parts of the flashpoint city Homs for close to three hours. On a Facebook web site, a Syrian opposition group accused the government of attacking the area after residents tore down posters of President Bashar al-Assad.
Witness reports say security forces have encircled the area and government snipers have taken position on tall buildings. Communications have reportedly been cut and residents are hiding in their houses.
Witnesses also say security forces and government militias entered the town of Jassem overnight, and have been arresting scores of young men. Protesters in Jassem, a suburb of the southern city of Daraa, held noisy anti-government demonstrations Tuesday.
Syrian human rights activists say thousands of young men have been rounded up in recent days in more than a dozen towns and cities. British journalist Martin Fletcher told the BBC he saw a large number of young men that were being held in a basement detention center near Damascus.
Anti-terrorism effort
Syrian government TV repeated claims the army was "engaged in a battle against terrorists," and it had "captured hundreds." It also charged al-Jazeera TV with what it called "fabricating pictures and videos to incite violence."
Syrian TV also interviewed ordinary citizens who claimed that life was normal in their town or city. Women told the television fruits, vegetables, milk, yogurt, eggs and bread were all available and several men claimed that electricity, water and telephones were all working.
No 'foreign plot'
At the European parliament in Strasbourg, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton denounced Syrian claims the protest movement was a "foreign plot," saying it represented "a popular aspiration for democracy and the rule of law." She also urged Syria to stop repressing its people.
"Our concern, in this house and in the European Union, is for the people of Daraa, where the U.N. has been refused access, in Banias, where the crackdown continues, in Hama, where the tanks have moved in," she said. "Mr. President, the Syrian people will not budge at tanks. We say to the regime to change course and to change course now."
The European Union recently imposed sanctions on 13 close relatives or associates of President Assad. One of those sanctioned, Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of Assad, warned in an interview with the New York Times that there would be "no stability in Israel" if Syria was "not stable."
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The United States said Tuesday repression by Syrian authorities against pro-democracy protests only strengthens the resolve of government opponents. The comments follow an assertion by a Damascus official that President Bashar al-Assad may have ridden out the worst of the crisis facing his government.
The State Department says its own reading of the Syrian situation contradicts the notion that the protest movement is receding, and it says the Assad government cannot escape "eventual accountability" for its violent tactics.
The comments here follow an assertion by a close adviser of President Assad, in a New York Times interview, that the Damascus government has "passed the most dangerous moment" of the ongoing crisis.
The Syrian official, Assad confidante and occasional spokeswoman Bouthaina Shabaan, told a Times reporter allowed into Syria only to interview her that she hopes, as she put it, that "we are witnessing the end of the story" with regard to the popular uprising.
While initially promising reforms, the Assad government has cracked down on protests which erupted in March with increasing ferocity, with Syrian civil rights groups saying at least 630 civilians have been killed and thousands arrested.
At a news briefing, State department Acting Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. embassy in Damascus has a different view from Shabaan about the trend of events in Syria, and he said the violent crackdown only stiffens the resolve of protesters. "What's apparent from events of past weeks is that the Syrian government's repression in towns like Der'aa and Banias simply stirs up new violence, and frankly strengthens the resolve of the Syrian people's demands. I would add that false government claims of reforms, such as lifting the emergency law which expanding the number of persons arbitrarily arrested, is also no answer to Syria' problems," he said.
Toner said accountability for the actions of Syrian officials would come from, among other things, the investigation of Syrian tactics against protestors ordered late last month by the U.N. Human Rights Council.
The United States and key European allies have enacted sanctions against Syrian officials including relatives of President Assad implicated in serious rights abuses.
The Syrian president himself has not been targeted thus far but Toner said the possibility of additional U.S. sanctions remains on the table.
At an event capping a senior-level U.S.-China political dialogue that included U.S. criticism of Chinese human rights practices, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed support for the Middle East democracy movement. "The United States supports the aspirations that the people of the Middle East and North Africa have expressed for more freedom, for more opportunity, for a better future for themselves and their families. And we will continue to support the people of the region as they try to realize those aspirations during this transition period," she said.
Clinton said last week in Rome world powers must show the Syrian government that there are consequences for what she called a "brutal crackdown" on civilians. But she also said a chance remains for the Assad government to live up to its stated commitment to reforms.
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Iran has delayed the resumption of the trial of three U.S. hikers accused of spying.
The Iranian lawyer for the hikers, Masoud Shafiei, said the case did not resume as scheduled on Wednesday because authorities did not transfer two of the hikers from prison to the courtroom.
Shafiei says authorities did not give him an explanation as to why Shaun Bauer and Josh Fattal were not transferred. He also said he was not given a new court date.
Authorities arrested Bauer, Fattal and Sarah Shourd in 2009 after saying they illegally crossed into Iran from Iraq. Iran released Shourd on bail last September and allowed her to return to the United States. She pleaded not guilty in absentia. Bauer and Fattal also have pleaded not guilty.
The families of the two men released a statement Wednesday expressing concern about what they called Iran's "arbitrary treatment" of Bauer and Fattal. They said the charges against the hikers are baseless and added that Iranian authorities were continuing to "play games" with their lives.
On Tuesday, rights group Amnesty International reiterated calls to release the hikers and called their trial "flawed."
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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