Iraq Interior Ministry officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of police officers near Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding 10 other people.
Authorities say the police were investigating the site of a roadside bomb blast when the suicide attacker walked into the crowd and detonated his explosives.
The Sunday morning assault near Taji, 20 kilometers north of Baghdad, raised the death toll for a series of explosions in and around the capital to 13.
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Two days after the President of the United States gave a major Middle East policy speech, peace efforts are in crisis.
Senior officials in the Palestinian Authority say the peace process has hit a dead end, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected President Barack Obama's call for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. Netanyahu says the 1967 border lines are indefensible, and such a withdrawal would leave major Israeli settlement blocs outside of sovereign Israel.
Saeb Erekat, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, says negotiations with Israel are pointless.
"Netanyahu, very clearly, when given the choice between settlements and peace, he had chosen settlements," said Erekat. "When he was given a choice by President Obama between the past and the future, he has chosen the past."
Another senior Palestinian official, Nabil Shaath, says his side will pursue United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state in September, without Israel's approval. President Obama rejected that idea in his policy speech on Thursday, saying unilateral moves would not help the Palestinians achieve their goals.
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor says without peace talks, the Palestinians will get nothing.
"The idea that they will be able to have a state that will control a certain area, that this can be done without negotiations, will not fly; and I think this is [an] illusion by them," Meridor said.
Israeli security officials have warned that if the U.N. recognizes a Palestinian state in September, and there are no changes on the ground, it could lead to a new eruption of violence.
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Activists in Syria say at least three people were killed Saturday when security forces fired on mourners holding funeral services for at least 44 people killed in Friday's protest demonstrations. Opposition websites are also claiming that medics were not allowed to treat the victims.
Meanwhile, in Yemen, embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh is saying once again that he will sign a Gulf Cooperation Council plan that paves the way for him to resign.
Funeral goers chanted slogans against the government in Syria's third largest city of Homs Saturday, before security forces blocked their march with bloody volleys of live ammunition. An opposition group says on the social networking site Facebook that doctors and medics were not allowed to treat the victims.
Funeral processions were held in a number of towns and cities, including one in Kfar Roumie, to bury victims of Friday's bloody crackdown on protesters who were demonstrating against President Bashar al-Assad's government. Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization of Human Rights in Syria confirms the high death toll from Friday's protests.
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Videos were posted on Facebook of pro-government militiamen carrying clubs and beating protesters in Latakia, Banyas and Hama on Friday. One video showed government militiamen firing on residents of Homs as they tried to rescue a wounded man lying in the street.
Another video showed protesters tearing down a large billboard bearing the picture of President Assad in the city of Idlib. Elsewhere, al-Jazeera TV showed video of protesters setting fire to a ruling Ba'ath Party office near Latakia. It was not possible to verify the events, however, since foreign correspondents are not being allowed into Syria.
Syria's official government daily Teshrine accused "armed groups of shooting and killing 17 civilians and members of the security forces." It also claimed that members of a "terrorist cell confessed to carrying arms and a large quantity of explosives."
Hilal Khashan, who teaches political science at the American University of Beirut, says that the Syrian government appears undeterred by U.S. and European Union condemnations or economic sanctions in continuing its bloody and brutal crackdown. "The number of demonstrators has declined, yet the number of casualties has increased, and that's very alarming, since it appears as if the regime in Damascus realizes that the outside world will not do anything, except to protest. The regime in Damascus feels that they have a free hand to crush the demonstrators, so I don't know where this is going," he said.
Khashan also pointed out that the anti-government protest movement appeared to be strongest in outlying regions of the country, while the two largest cities of Damascus and Aleppo remained mostly quiet. "So far it seems that protests in Syria are mainly inviting poor people. As long as it remains confined to the poor it will continue to be within the ability of the regime to contain it," he said.
Meanwhile, in Yemen, embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh addressed an army gathering Saturday to mark the 21st anniversary of the unification of the country. He called the ongoing protest movement against him a "coup", but claimed that he would sign a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plan paving the way for him to step down.
The GCC indicated Saturday that its secretary general, Abdullatif al Zayani, was on his way back to Yemen. He left several days ago after the president balked at signing the plan to step down. Despite the news, security forces shot and wounded a number of protesters in Hodeida Saturday.
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Iran says it has dismantled a spy network it says was linked to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and arrested 30 people.
A statement from Iran's Intelligence Ministry read on state radio and television Saturday said the ministry uncovered the network, which it said had been established by the CIA in several different countries.
The statement says the network had tried to recruit Iranians civilians who were looking for work. Iran says the civilians were promised employment and education opportunities in exchange for cooperation.
Iran frequently announces the arrests of individuals who it says work for foreign intelligence agencies.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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Alassane Ouattara has been inaugurated as Ivory Coast's new president, six months after he won an election that the previous president refused to recognize.
President Ouattara took the oath of office more than three weeks ago. So Saturday's inauguration in the political capital Yamoussoukro was more of a rally for supporters of the man who outlasted former president Laurent Gbabgo in the political crisis that followed November's vote.
With Gbagbo under house arrest, the formal Ouattara inauguration was a chance for foreign governments to show their support for the new leader. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were in attendance as were the leaders of Burkina Faso, Senegal, Liberia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Togo, and Nigeria.
President Ouattara said Ivorians now face the world, themselves, and their destiny.
The president expressed what he called his infinite gratitude to those who chose him as their president. He said Saturday's investiture is their victory, the victory of their sovereignty.
Ouattara has moved quickly to take control of a faltering economy by reopening banks, paying overdue civil service salaries, and resuming cocoa exports. France and the European Union are providing more than $820 million in emergency assistance.
Ouattara took power Apirl 11 when former president Gbagbo was captured after U.N. and French attack helicopters bombed the presidential compound where he was holding out in an underground bunker.
President Ouattara personally thanked President Sarkozy for that intervention under the U.N. mandate. He said it allowed many lives to be saved and the Ivorian people will always recognize that French contribution.
Gbagbo rejected U.N.-certified electoral results that showed Ouattara won their November run-off. He used the military to besiege Ouattara's hotel as members of his party's youth wing attacked Ouattara supporters and West African immigrants from countries that backed Ouattara's claim to the presidency.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) intends to investigate crimes by both Ouattara and Gbagbo forces. President Ouattara says Ivorian justice will prosecute anyone found guilty of human rights abuses, whether they fought for him or against him.
Ouattara said it is time to consolidate the pillars of the republic, renew its courage, and unite Ivorians to celebrate peace, without which, he says, development is not possible.
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The foreign ministry of France says four French nationals held by Libyan rebels on suspicion of spying have been freed.
A ministry statement Saturday said the four men were brought to Egypt and taken into the care of French consular officials.
The four worked for a private security firm and were detained by Libyan rebel forces in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi late last week. A fifth member of the group, Pierre Marziali, was shot at the checkpoint and later died of his wounds. Marziali was the founder of the SECOPEX security firm.
The French nationals are not the only foreigners who have been caught up in the unrest in Libya.
In the western town of Zawiya Saturday, angry Libyans attacked a bus carrying foreign journalists. News reports said the attack stemmed at least in part from anger over fuel shortages.
Reporters on the bus said the incident began when their minibus stalled in a fuel line, as they were heading to the Tunisian border. Members of a crowd stormed through the bus door, at least one of them carrying a knife.
The journalists said attackers slashed the bus's tires, and that a man with a gun shot in the air to disperse them. The journalists survived unharmed.
The conflict in Libya between rebels and forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi has been going on for months.
On Friday, a NATO spokesman said the alliance's air campaign over Libya has effectively forced Mr. Gadhafi into hiding and hampered the Libyan leader's ability to control his forces.
Bracken's comments came after NATO said it had launched a series of airstrikes that targeted warships used by pro-government forces. NATO said it hit vessels that were in the ports of Sirte, Al Khums and the capital, Tripoli.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to support U.S. efforts in Libya, which are part the NATO-led multi-national coalition. The president sent a letter to lawmakers on Friday, the 60-day deadline to get congressional approval for the use of war powers.
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Afghan officials say a Taliban suicide bomber infiltrated the country's main military hospital Saturday, killing at least six medical students and wounding 23 other people.
The country's Defense Ministry said in a statement that the attack happened in a tent used as a dining hall at the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan Hospital. Officials said foreigners were not among the casualties.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, saying it had sent two attackers into the hospital grounds. However, authorities say only one explosion was heard.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan, as well as the international coalition, joined President Hamid Karzai in condemning the attack.
U.N. officials say the 400-bed hospital is the largest medical facility in the country. It provides medical services to members of the Afghanistan National Army and their families.
It also is located in a high-security area of the Afghan capital, near the U.S. Embassy. The ability of the Taliban to breach the heavily guarded hospital raises fresh questions about the possibility of militants infiltrating Afghan security forces.
In April, a Taliban militant opened fire inside the Afghan Defense Ministry in Kabul. There also have been several high-profile incidents of people in Afghan military uniforms opening fire on coalition trainers.
Last month, the Taliban announced it was unleashing more attacks against the coalition and their Afghan partners as part of the militant group's annual spring offensive.
The coalition has committed itself to handing over control of security operations in the country to the Afghan government by 2014.
Currently, there are at least 130,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan fighting an insurgency estimated to have up to 25,000 fighters.
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Pakistani officials say a bomb attack on a NATO fuel tanker in the northwestern part of the country started a huge fire and then another explosion that killed at least 15 people.
Authorities said the people who died Saturday in Pakistan's Khyber tribal region were trying to collect fuel from the bombed tanker when it exploded.
Earlier in the same region, another bomb attack set on fire at least 14 other NATO supply trucks. Officials say no one was hurt in that incident.
No group has claimed responsibility, but the Taliban has claimed such attacks in the past.
Most supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan are shipped through Pakistan and end up going through the Khyber tribal region.
Pakistan has seen a surge in militant violence this month since U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden on May 2 in a compound not far from the capital Islamabad.
On Friday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for bombing a U.S. consulate convoy in Peshawar. One Pakistani was killed in the attack and 11 others wounded.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Two months before scheduled elections, Tunisia remains a country in flux. Protests continue, discontented Tunisians are still migrating to Europe and the country is grappling with unrest spilling over from neighboring Libya.
Tunisia was at the vanguard of the protests still roiling the Arab world. The self-immolation of a young man in southern Tunisia set off a popular uprising that drove long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power in January - and inspired similar anti-government movements elsewhere.
Now the country is looking ahead. Elections are scheduled in July for a constituent assembly, tasked with drawing up a new constitution and preparing for elections for a new government. Dozens of parties have sprouted on the political scene.
Fares Mabrouk, who heads the newly established Arab Policy Institute, a Tunis-based think-tank, is upbeat. "I think that today all the ingredients are here for the success of this transition in Tunisia. Yes, there are more than 70 parties, but they are all organized to communicate a project and their program, so it's a very exciting and very interesting period," he said.
But Tunisia's interim government has already raised the possibility the July vote will be delayed. Demonstrations continue for faster reforms. Tunisia's once-vibrant economy is struggling to get back on its feet and young Tunisians continue to head in droves to Europe - prompting talk of tightening Europe's open-border Schengen agreement.
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Libyan refugees
Unrest in neighboring Libya has already spilled across Tunisia's borders. Over the past few months, several hundred thousand people have crossed over, fleeing the fighting. According to reports, that includes the wife and daughter of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and Libya's oil minister.
In an interview with France's Europe 1 radio this week in Paris, visiting Tunisian Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi acknowledged the challenges.
Essebsi said the Libyan unrest was practically a domestic problem. Tunisia has protested and threatened to take the matter to the United Nations Security Council.
Fear factors
There are also reports of al-Qaida's presence on Tunisia's soil. And fears about the mounting popularity of Tunisia's moderate Islamist party, Ennadha.
Ennadha leaders argue they support a multiparty democracy. In a recent interview on French radio Ajmi Lourimi, a member of Ennadha's executive committee, scoffed at those who doubt them.
Lourimi said Ennadha was for a modern, democratic state with a separation of powers, an independent judiciary and a free press.
Analyst Mabrouk also downplays fears about Ennadha. "The movement did not radicalize despite 23 years of repression [under Ben Ali's rule]. Despite the torture and imprisonment of the members. Yes, Ennadha will be one of the leading political parties in this now and open and democratic political arena. But Ennadha is also popular," he said.
U.S. aid
In a keynote speech on U.S. Middle East policy this week, President Barack Obama announced billions of dollars in aid for Tunisia and Egypt, which also overthrew its authoritarian government. He said Washington had asked the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to present a plan to help both economies at the upcoming G8 summit in France.
"Together, we must help them recover from the disruptions of their democratic upheaval and support the governments that will be elected later this year. And we are urging other countries to help Egypt and Tunisia meet its near term financial needs," said the U.S. president.
Wire services report that France will announce a partnership for financial aid and investment for Tunisia and Egypt during the G8 summit, which takes place next Thursday and Friday in the French city of Deauville.
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Leaders of Japan, China and South Korea are in Japan to discuss measures to help disaster response and nuclear safety in East Asia. The leaders visited Fukushima city, about 50 kilometers from the stricken Daiichi nuclear power plant and paid their respects to the 24,000 people dead or missing following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak accompanied Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on a visit to an evacuation center in Fukushima City.
At the center, they spoke to some of the thousands of people displaced by the world's worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl crisis in 1986.
The South Korean and Chinese leaders arrived Saturday morning in Sendai, in disaster-hit Miyagi prefecture, and both made individual visits to places in the region.
President Lee visited Natori City where a massive tsunami swept away everything within several kilometers of the coast. He laid flowers and spoke to reporters
President Lee says he is looking forward to the fast recovery of the region.
Chinese Premier Wen visited the site of a company where a Japanese manager led 20 Chinese workers to safety, shortly before he was drowned in the tsunami waters. The act made headlines in China at the time.
Both China and South Korea sent emergency rescue teams to Japan in the days after the earthquake and tsunami disaster.
After visiting Fukushima, the three leaders moved to Tokyo where their fourth annual trilateral summit is due to begin on Saturday evening with a formal dinner.
Talks between the three countries will take place on Sunday morning. They are expected to agree on measures to help disaster response and nuclear safety in East Asia.
Also up for discussion will be restrictions on Japanese food imports imposed after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said ties between the Japan and its two most important neighbors have been strengthened by the disaster, but history continues to put a strain on the relationships. A reminder of that came just three weeks after the earthquake, when the Japanese government approved new history textbooks that reiterated the country's claim to small islets that both countries claim.
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Tens of thousands of Spaniards defied a protest ban Saturday and crowded town squares across the nation to demonstrate against high unemployment ahead of local elections on Sunday.
Thousands of demonstrators swarm Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square, defying a protest ban by the country's electoral commission. Saturday is a so-called "Day of Reflection," when political campaigning - and demonstrations - are banned.
But demonstrators have been here for seven days, protesting high unemployment and perceived government corruption, ahead of local elections on Sunday.
A man shouts into a megaphone, "They don't represent us. We are here to change society!"
Protester Raquel Almendros explains why she is here. "We do not have jobs, there's a lot of unemployment, we're having social cuts. The political people do not represent the good for the most of the people," she said.
Police walk past but do not intervene. They are cheered by the crowd, in scenes hauntingly similar to anti-government protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square during Egypt's revolution in February.
Demonstrator Juan Lopez says he suspects that despite the protest ban, the government really thinks public demonstrations like this one are appropriate. "They haven't tried any action, because they know, as we do, that we are legal," said Lozez.
Spain's ruling Socialist Party is widely expected to suffer losses in Sundays' elections.
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The former head of the International Monetary Fund was released to house arrest Friday after spending several days in a New York jail following his arrest on sexual assault charges.
A New York judge ordered Dominique Strauss-Kahn released after he posted $1 million bail and a $5 million insurance bond. He will live under the watch of armed guards and will be monitored electronically.
Strauss-Kahn was forced to find a new temporary home after the luxury apartment where he had arranged to stay fell through, reportedly because neighbors were concerned about the media frenzy surrounding him.
Strauss-Kahn is accused of sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid last week and could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. He has denied the charges against him.
Earlier this week, he resigned from the top job at the IMF.
On Friday, the IMF said it has initiated the selection process for his replacement. A spokesman says the IMF executive board hopes select a candidate by June 30.
Strauss-Kahn faces another court hearing, an arraignment, on June 6, when a judge will describe the charges against the defendant and make sure he understands his legal rights.
Strauss-Kahn is a former French finance minister, and had been expected to soon declare his candidacy for the French presidency.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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An obscure self-taught Biblical soothsayer in the U.S. is predicting the beginning of the end of the world on Saturday, but Americans are mostly having a good laugh at his expense.
For months now, Harold Camping, an 89-year-old one-time civil engineer, has been telling listeners on his Family Radio network of Christian-themed broadcasts that by his calculations of numerical references in the Christian holy book, the Bible, that May 21 will be the first day of Judgment. He says that will lead up to the ultimate doomsday and destruction of the world five months later, on October 21.
Camping earlier predicted the end of the world would come in 1994, but later said he'd miscalculated. This time, he says there's going to be a "huge earthquake that's going to make the big earthquake in Japan seem like a Sunday school picnic." He said the end will start cascading around the globe at 6 p.m. local time everywhere, although no seismic events have been reported in the first time zones to hit 6 p.m.
While a small number of Camping's followers in the U.S. handed out leaflets this week warning of the world's demise, the vast majority have scoffed at Camping, including mainstream Christian religious leaders.
Other people have planned parties to celebrate surviving the purported end of the world. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joked that his city's residents would not have to pay their parking tickets or return library books if the world comes to an end.
By some accounts, there have been more than 100 predictions of the end of the world in the last century and they all have had one thing in common - they have been wrong.
For those looking ahead, the ancient Mayans said that the end of civilization is coming next year - on December 21, 2012 - as astronomical events converge.
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Yemen's opposition says it has signed a Gulf-brokered deal that would see President Ali Abdullah Saleh transfer power within a month.
Opposition sources said the deal, aimed at ending Yemen's political crisis, was signed on Saturday. News reports say President Saleh is expected to sign the agreement on Sunday. Plans to sign the deal have already stalled twice because of objections by the Yemeni leader.
In a speech Saturday, Mr. Saleh denounced the U.S.-backed Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) proposal as a "coup," and warned that his departure could allow al-Qaida to take over parts of the country.
Despite his criticism of the deal, Mr. Saleh indicated that he would go along with it.
The agreement offers Mr. Saleh immunity from prosecution if he transfers power to a deputy within 30 days of signing.
The Yemeni leader has faced months of anti-government protests demanding he end his more than 30-year rule. His government has responded to the demonstrations with a bloody crackdown.
In his speech Saturday, Mr. Saleh charged that funding for the protests had come from his country's Gulf neighbors.
He warned that if he heeded protesters' demands to leave office, al-Qaida would gain control in several provinces, including Hadramout, Shabwa and Abyan - all areas where the terrorist group's Yemen-based wing has been active.
Addressing his comments to Yemen's "friends" in the United States and European Union, he said the situation in Yemen will be worse than it is now.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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A NATO spokesman says the alliance's air campaign over Libya has effectively forced leader Moammar Gadhafi into hiding.
Wing Commander Mike Bracken says airstrikes targeting pro-Gadhafi forces in Tripoli have hampered Gadhafi's ability to control his forces.
Bracken commented Friday after NATO said it had launched a series of airstrikes that targeted warships used by pro-government forces. NATO said it hit vessels that were in the ports of Sirte, al-Khums and the capital, Tripoli.
An alliance official, Libyan operations Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Russell Harding, said NATO had "no choice but to take decisive action" after pro-Gadhafi forces carried out mining operations and escalated their use of maritime force.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to support U.S. efforts in Libya, which are part the NATO-led multi-national coalition. The president sent a letter to lawmakers on Friday, the 60-day deadline to get congressional approval for the use of war powers. However, he maintained the U.S. has had a limited role in the NATO mission in Libya.
Separately, U.S. military officials said they have sent the Libyan rebels more than 120,000 military food rations that meet Muslim dietary standards and will deliver more aid in the days to come.
The meals were sent to the rebel stronghold Benghazi. The U.S. Defense Department said it is also sending non-lethal aid such as sandbags, uniforms, tents and protective vests.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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A Syrian rights group has raised the estimated death toll from a Friday crackdown on anti-government protests in the country to 44.
The National Organization for Human Rights said Saturday that most of the deaths took place in the western province of Idlib and the central region of Homs, after Syrian security forces cracked down on demonstrators.
On Friday, news organizations quoted witnesses in several cities who said security forces used live ammunition on demonstrators who took to the streets to rally against President Bashar al-Assad's government.
Syria, meanwhile, blamed armed groups for the violence and said 17 civilians, police and security forces had been killed in Idlib and Homs. The state news agency said the armed groups also attacked police stations. The government has repeatedly blamed the unrest on armed gangs.
The accounts cannot be independently verified as Syria has banned foreign journalists from the country.
Friday's violence came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama said President Assad must either lead a transition to democracy or "get out of the way."
Syrian rights activists say more than 850 civilians have been killed since mid-March, when protesters began calling for democratic reforms and Mr. Assad's ouster. Authorities have arrested at least 7,000 people as part of a government crackdown.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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A European bank that was established in the post Cold War era to help formerly Communist countries has launched an effort to help countries affected by the Arab uprisings.
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced plans on Saturday to expand its lending into the Middle East and North Africa. During an annual meeting in Kazakhstan, the group's board of governors asked the bank's directors to come up with a plan by the end of July on extending the bank's mandate to the regions.
The EBRD released a statement that says Egypt and Morocco have already expressed an interest in becoming recipients. The statement says bank president Thomas Mirow has indicated the lending institution could eventually have the capacity to invest up to $3.5 billion a year in the regions.
On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama announced his support of an expanded EBRD mission. During a major speech on Middle East policy, he said the U.S. would work with its allies to "refocus" the European bank so that it could support "democratic transitions and economic modernization" in the Middle East and North Africa.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say that differences remain over the path to Mideast peace.
The two leaders commented after holding talks at the White House on Friday. Netanyahu said Israel is willing to make concessions with Palestinians, who have been seeking statehood. However, he said Israel could not go back to the borders that it had before the 1967 Six-Day War. He said those lines would now be "indefensible." Obama proposed Israel consider returning to the pre-war borders - with conditions - in a speech on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Palestinians say they will move ahead with plans to seek U.N. recognition of a state in the West Bank. The Associated Press quotes a senior official, Nabil Shaath, as saying Netanyahu's comments make it clear that he is not a partner for peace. U.S.-mediated peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled in September.
On Thursday, Obama told a U.S. State Department audience that the conditions under which Israel could return to the pre-war borders of 1967 would be mutually agreed swaps with the Palestinians so that secure and recognized borders could be established for both states. Palestinians had embraced Obama's remarks.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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U.S. President Barack Obama is urging school systems across the United States to embrace reform that elevates teaching and learning.
During his weekly address Saturday, Obama said the reforms will come from the people on the frontline, such as teachers, administrators, and parents.
The president says states showing commitment to educational reform will have access to funding through his administration's "Race to the Top" program where states compete for education dollars.
Obama says schools need authority to implement reform that best fits their community.
The president says the No Child Left Behind law restricts that change and he is calling on the Congress to replace it.
Republicans used their weekly address to take aim at the president's energy policies.
Senator Kay Bailey-Hutchinson criticized the Obama administration for proposing more taxes and regulations on energy companies that will generate jobs to help the economy.
The senator says the U.S. should be exploring oil and gas resources in the United States that will help lower prices at the pump and reduce the demand for imported fuel.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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