U.S. stock market indexes rose in Wednesday’s midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced six-tenths of a percent, the S&P 500 rose eight-tenths of a percent, and the NASDAQ gained four-tenths of a percent. European stock markets were higher at the close of trading. London’s Financial Times 100 index gained 1.5 percent to finish […]
US: Clinton Leaves on Three-Nation European Trip
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 12:20 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is headed to Europe on a four-day visit to Hungary, Lithuania and Spain. Clinton left Wednesday for Hungary, where she is inaugurating a human rights center named after a late U.S. congressman, Hungarian-born Tom Lantos, who founded the Human Rights Caucus in Congress. She also plans to meet with […]
Obama: Deficit Agreement Will Require ‘Tough Decisions’
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 12:05 pm (UTC-5)
President Obama says any agreement to reduce the nation’s deficit is going to require “tough decisions,” including decisions on what he called “spending in the tax code” by eliminating some tax benefits for the wealthy. The president called reducing the deficit one of the most important and urgent things the U.S. government can do for […]
Obama Calls on Congress to Take Action on Economy
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 11:55 am (UTC-5)
U.S. President Barack Obama has called on Congress to take action that he says would strengthen the economy and help Americans who are struggling financially. At a White House news conference Wednesday, Mr. Obama said the nation’s economic problems will not be solved immediately. He said Americans are still looking for work, or seeking better-paying […]
Activists Say Syrian Troops Kill 4 in Northern Villages
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 11:55 am (UTC-5)
Syrian rights activists say government troops have attacked several villages in the country’s northwest, killing at least four civilians as part of a months-long crackdown on pro-democracy protests. The activists say Syrian tanks shelled the village of Rameh in Idlib province Wednesday, prompting many residents to flee as soldiers conducted searches for dissidents. They say […]
Poland’s Walesa Leaves Hospital
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 11:55 am (UTC-5)
Lech Walesa, Poland’s former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, on Wednesday left the hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia. Mr. Walesa said he still needs another month to fully recuperate. It was not clear what had caused the infection, which developed after Mr. Walesa returned from a visit to Tunisia earlier this […]
Dozens of Soldiers Killed in Yemen Fighting
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 11:50 am (UTC-5)
Military officials in Yemen say at least 26 soldiers have been killed in heavy fighting with militants in the southern city of Zinjibar. At least 14 Islamist militants also were killed as the two sides battled Wednesday for control of a stadium on the outskirts of the city. The fighting comes as part of daily […]
Southern Sudan Asks US to Lift Oil Sanctions
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 11:50 am (UTC-5)
Southern Sudan, which will soon become an independent country, has asked the United States to lift oil sanctions on all of Sudan. The south’s vice president, Riek Machar, said Wednesday that the current sanctions will hurt the new country’s ability to export oil because it must rely on the north’s pipelines. South Sudan is set […]
Tropical Storm Arlene Approaches Mexican Coast
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 11:50 am (UTC-5)
Mexican authorities have issued a hurricane watch for the northeast coast from Tuxpan northward to La Cruz, as Tropical Storm Arlene, the season’s first powerful Atlantic storm, gradually gathers strength. Weather officials on Wednesday issued tropical storm warnings for the coastal area from Barra de Nautla northward to Bahia Algodones. The U.S. National Hurricane Center […]
Burmese Pro-Democracy Party Asks Government to Discuss Warning
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 11:30 am (UTC-5)
The Burmese political movement headed by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is asking for a meeting with authorities to discuss a government order directing the organization to halt all political activities. The request came Wednesday, just hours after the Home Affairs Ministry warned the Nobel laureate in a letter that her National League for […]
