Poles went to the polls Sunday in a general election, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk aiming for a landmark second term and pushing a message of prudent economic stewardship which kept the nation out of recession.
Pro-European centrist Tusk, whose Civic Platform (PO) won a snap vote in 2007, has warned against a return of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party which clashed regularly with EU allies when it was in power.
Full StoryPolls opened on Sunday in France's first open U.S.-style primary election, with the left-wing opposition choosing a candidate to take on an increasingly vulnerable President Nicolas Sarkozy next year.
Voters are deciding who will lead the Socialist Party, with former leader Francois Hollande appearing at the head of a pack of six frontrunners.
Full StoryGeorge W. Bush says that after eight years in the White House, he's happy to be back home in Texas and out of the spotlight.
But the former commander-in-chief tells The Associated Press there's one aspect of his presidency he still misses: interaction with U.S. troops. And Bush, who sent them to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, says that despite his desire to remain largely out of the public eye, he wants to make sure veterans and military members know they still have his support.
Full StoryPresident Barack Obama's administration crafted a legal document in secret ahead of the assassination of U.S.-born al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaqi, which permitted the killing of an American citizen without trial, a report said Saturday.
The secret memorandum was written in 2010 to justify the action despite a legal framework that prevents the White House ordering assassinations, the U.S. federal law against murder, and protections for U.S. citizens contained in the Bill of Rights, said the New York Times, citing sources familiar with the memo.
Full StoryA computer virus has hit the U.S. Predator and Reaper drone fleet that Washington deploys to hunt down militants, logging the keystrokes of pilots remotely flying missions, Wired magazine reported.
The virus was first detected about two weeks ago by the military's Host-Based Security System, but it had not halted missions flown remotely over Afghanistan and other warzones from Nevada's Creech Air Force Base, Wired said Friday.
Full StoryBelgium's feuding Flemish and Walloons agreed Saturday on an institutional reform aimed at ending a crisis that has left the kingdom rudderless for 18 months and on the brink of collapse.
The deal will also provide some reassurance to the markets a day after ratings agency Moody's threatened to downgrade Belgium over its failing bank Dexia.
Full StoryThe Kabul government on Saturday demanded that Washington increase pressure on Pakistan to act against insurgents using its soil to attack Afghanistan, saying Afghans were running out of patience.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai held talks with U.S. regional envoy, Marc Grossman, in Kabul just days after President Barack Obama warned Pakistan there were "some connections" between its intelligence services and extremists.
Full StoryPakistani police have found the body of a journalist working for a London-based online news site in the eastern city of Lahore, police said Saturday.
Faisal Qureshi, 28, who worked for Internet publication The London Post, was murdered early Friday, senior police officer Razzaq Cheema told Agence France Presse.
Full StoryTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a planned meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff after his mother died, Anatolia news agency reported.
Rousseff, who had been scheduled to have a working dinner with Erdogan on Saturday, went to his home in Istanbul on Friday evening to present her condolences, Anatolia reported.
Full StorySouth Sudanese President Salva Kiir arrived in Khartoum on Saturday for his first visit since southern secession to discuss key unresolved issues, including Abyei and oil, that have undermined north-south relations.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir received his counterpart at the airport, alongside senior members of his cabinet, according to an AFP correspondent.
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