Supreme Court takes up key health care provision

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. Supreme Court’s more conservative justices sharply questioned a core provision of President Barack Obama’s historic health care reforms Tuesday, raising doubts about the fate of the requirement that all Americans must buy insurance coverage or face a penalty.The court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the law ― expected in June, during the heat of the presidential re-election campaign ― will affect the lives of nearly every American and stands to deepen already wide

March 28, 2012

Obama concedes strains between U.S. and Pakistan

SEOUL (AP) ― Conceding strained ties, President Barack Obama on Tuesday welcomed Pakistan’s review of its relationship with the United States, saying it was important for the two countries to get their partnership right.Obama spoke alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani before the two men held private talks. The meeting came amid heightened tensions between their countries following a series of incidents that have marred trust.“There have been times ― I think we should be frank ―

March 28, 2012

Medvedev tells Romney to ‘use head’

MOSCOW (AFP) ― Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Mitt Romney on Tuesday to use his head and stop reverting to Hollywood stereotypes after the U.S. presidential hopeful branded Moscow as Washington’s top foe.“I recommend that all U.S. presidential candidates, including the candidate you mention (Romney), do at least two things,” Medvedev told Russian reporters on the sidelines of a nuclear security conference in Seoul.“That they use their head and consult their reason when they formulate the

March 28, 2012

Egypt secularists pull out of constituent assembly

Liberal and leftist parties have pulled out of a panel drafting Egypt‘s new constitution, they announced on Tuesday, accusing Islamists of monopolizing the process to deliver its post-revolution charter.The withdrawals from the panel will call its legitimacy into question, pushing the struggle between Islamists and secularists over the issue to crisis point.“We announce our rejection of the way the constituent assembly was formed,” Ahmed Said, the head of the liberal Free Egyptians party, told r

March 28, 2012

Annan: Syria accepts peace plan, U.S. skeptical

Syrian National Council: Annan plan must mean Assad goesDAMASCUS (AFP) ― Syria has accepted a proposal crafted by Kofi Annan designed to end the bloodshed in the country, the envoy’s spokesman said Tuesday, as opposition factions agreed to join forces against the regime.U.N.-Arab League envoy Annan, speaking from Beijing, cautioned that the key to peace was implementing his six-point plan, as monitors reported at least another 31 people killed in Syria on Tuesday.That brought the total to almost

March 28, 2012

China: Dalai Lama behind self-immolation protests

China on Tuesday accused the Dalai Lama and his associates of planning the self-immolation by a Tibetan exile in India days before China’s president visits, repeating past assertions blaming the spiritual leader for dozens of such protests.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei offered no evidence linking the Tibetan spiritual leader to the exile who lit himself on fire and ran shouting through a demonstration in New Delhi on Monday.He said the Dalai Lama and his associates have been instig

March 28, 2012

Mideast executions boost 2011 global toll: Amnesty

NEW YORK (AP) ― A surge of executions last year in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen pushed the worldwide total higher than the year before, the global anti-death penalty group Amnesty International announced Monday.The United States remains near the top of the global list of nations carrying out executions, ranked fifth.Although the global rate of executions has declined by about a third in the past decade, to 676 documented worldwide in 2011, some 18,750 people remained on death row at the en

March 27, 2012

British P.M. hosted meals at family home for donors

LONDON (AP) ― Britain’s prime minister, facing new questions about party fundraising, disclosed Monday the names of major donors to his Conservative Party invited to intimate meals at his family’s Downing Street apartment and his official countryside mansion.David Cameron, whose aides had initially refused to divulge the details, published the lists of guests after the resignation of a fundraising aide caught boasting that he could organize access to Cameron in return for large donations.Peter C

March 27, 2012

Egypt’s Brotherhood faces double backlash

CAIRO (AP) ― Egypt’s powerful Islamists on Monday faced a backlash on two fronts as they try to solidify their hold on the country’s politics, as liberal politicians quit a panel tasked with drafting a new constitution to protest its domination by Islamists.More ominously, the ruling military issued a veiled threat of a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood if the group persisted in demands to form a new government.The warning pointed to a growing possibility of confrontation between the Brotherho

March 27, 2012

Obama asks Russia for 'space' on missile defense

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday told President Dmitry Medvedev that he had little flexibility to address Russia's objections to a U.S. missile defense shield before his November reelection bid.Obama was picked up on an open mic privately explaining his position to Medvedev in an exchange heard

March 27, 2012

Senegal president concedes defeat to ex-protege

DAKAR (AP) ― President Abdoulaye Wade conceded defeat to his former protege Macky Sall late Sunday, congratulating him several hours after polls closed when preliminary results showed the opposition candidate had trounced the 85-year-old incumbent.Wade called Sall around 9:30 p.m. Sunday to congratulate him on his victory, state television reported. The move alleviated fears that Wade would attempt to stay in office after 12 years or would challenge the runoff results.Even before Wade conceded,

March 26, 2012

Arab summit: New leaders, new politics

BAGHDAD (AFP) ― This week’s Arab summit in Baghdad will be very different from the one that met two years ago, with many long-time autocrats swept away by the political tsunami that has struck across the region.Instead, new Islamist leaders will sit alongside long-serving hereditary rulers, while one country returns having lost much its territory to a newly created state, and all in meetings led for the first time by a Kurd.On March 28, 2010, leaders of the 22-member Arab League met in Sirte, th

March 26, 2012

Another Japan reactor shuts down; only one left

TOKYO (AP) ― Another Japanese nuclear reactor was taken off line for maintenance on Monday, leaving the country with only one of its 54 reactors operational following last year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.The last reactor is expected to be shut down by early May, raising the possibility of power shortages across the nation as demand increases in the hot summer months.The No. 6 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex was taken off line early Monday by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. The u

March 26, 2012