- Obama honors veterans during Memorial Day weekend
President Barack Obama is paying tribute to veterans during Memorial Day weekend, honoring those willing to sacrifice their lives for their country.
- Militants post appeal of kidnapped Saudi diplomat
Militants have posted online a video in which a man identifying himself as a Saudi diplomat kidnapped by al-Qaida in Yemen appeals to Saudi Arabia's rulers to respond to his captors' demands and save his life.
- Lesotho holds tense election
MASERU (Reuters) - Voters in the highland African kingdom of Lesotho went to the polls on Saturday in a wide-open election that analysts say could end without a clear result, as happened in 1998 when South Africa had to send in troops to quell unrest. The capital Maseru was quiet, with shops closed, as voters queued up on a crisp and clear southern hemisphere winter morning. ...
- Cronenberg, Pattinson bring 'Cosmopolis' to Cannes
Money, sex and stretch limos abound as David Cronenberg brought "Cosmopolis" to Cannes Friday, with Robert Pattinson as a billionaire financier looking for a haircut as a killer stalks him.
- Cheaper gas spurs more travelers this Memorial Day
More Americans will hit the road this holiday weekend than a year ago. And they'll have a bit more money to spend thanks to lower gas prices.
- Bankia says it could sell Spanish company stakes
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Bankia said on Saturday that it could sell its stakes in Spanish companies in future, a day after it asked the state for a 19 billion euro ($23.77 billion) bailout, the biggest ever bank rescue in the country. Bankia and its parent group BFA have holdings in big Spanish companies, including in International Airlines Group and Iberdrola "The BFA group and Bankia have a strong group of holdings (...) and the reason (for provivisioning against it) is that in future (...) we will logically look to start a sale process," said chairman Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri. ($1 = 0. ...
- Activists put Syria attack death toll at over 90
Activists have raised the number of those reportedly killed by regime forces in a district of central Syria to more than 90.
- Iran: Enriched uranium traces a 'technical issue'
Iran's envoy to the U.N.'s nuclear agency says traces of enriched uranium discovered at an underground bunker were due to a "routine technical issue."
- Bankia preference shares not to be converted into capital: chairman
MADRID (Reuters) - Bankia's chairman Jose Ignacio Goirigoizarri said on Saturday he did not envisage converting about 4 billion euros ($5.00 billion)in preference shares held by investors into capital. "We don't envisage that the solution around preference shares will be to convert them into capital, but when we have a solution, we will communicate it," he told a press conference a day after Bankia asked for a 19 billion euro state bailout, the biggest bank rescue ever in Spain. ($1 = 0.7992 euros) (Reporting by Jesus Aguado, Editing by Sarah White)
- Bankia and BFA merger not on the table for now: chairman
MADRID (Reuters) - Bankia's chairman said on Saturday that a merger of the troubled bank with its parent group BFA was not on the table for now. The two entities asked for a 19 billion euro ($23.77 billion) state bailout on Friday to cope with possible real estate losses and writedowns on other loans. "It's not on the table for now. We might think about it in future but it's not among our priorities," said chairman Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri. ($1 = 0.7992 euros) (Reporting by Jesus Aguado, Editing by Sarah White)
- Azerbaijan hosts Eurovision under shadow of arrests
Azerbaijan on Saturday prepared to host a spectacular show for the Eurovision Song Contest final that will pit pensioners against young stars, but the party has been marred by the detention of dozens of activists.
- Spanish lender Bankia seeks record €19 bn bailout
Spain's fourth-biggest bank, Bankia, has said it will ask the government for 19 billion euros ($24 billion) in the largest bank bailout in the country's history.
- Finland gunman kills one, wounds eight
Police on Saturday arrested an 18-year-old man suspected of killing one person and wounding eight others in a shooting in southern Finland overnight.
- UN observers heading to site of Syria attack
A spokesman for the United Nations' envoy to Syria says international monitors are heading to a region where activists say at least 50 people were killed by government troops.
- Pakistan: US missile attack kills 4 in northwest
An American drone fired two missiles at a bakery in northwest Pakistan Saturday and killed four suspected militants, officials said, as the U.S. pushed on with its drone campaign despite Pakistani demands to stop. This was the third such strike in the country in less than a week.
- US reporter detained in Ethiopia 'to be released'
A Voice of America (VOA) reporter detained while covering a protest in the Ethiopian capital will be released from jail Saturday, a government spokesperson said.
- Iran has enough uranium for five bombs: expert
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has significantly stepped up its output of low-enriched uranium and total production in the last five years would be enough for at least five nuclear weapons if refined much further, a U.S. security institute said. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a think-tank which closely tracks Iran's nuclear program, made the analysis on the basis of data in the latest quarterly U.N. watchdog report which was issued on Friday. ...
- Finland gunman who killed 2, wounded 7 is arrested
An 18-year-old gunman killed two people and wounded seven others in what appeared to be a random shooting in a southern Finnish town, police said Saturday.
- US debates 'terrorist' sanctions for Nigerian militants
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department is debating the wisdom of designating the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram a "foreign terrorist organization" despite entreaties from lawmakers and the Justice Department to do so. U.S. diplomats are giving serious consideration to the arguments of a group of academics who sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week urging her department not to apply the "terrorist" label to the al Qaeda-linked group. ...
- Muslim Brotherhood seeks unity ahead of Egypt runoff
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood is reaching out to rivals including politicians knocked out of the presidential race in an attempt to rally support around its own candidate who faces a runoff against Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq. Warning of "determined efforts to recreate the old regime," the Brotherhood said parties that supported the uprising that swept Mubarak from power must unite "so that the revolution is not stolen from us. ...
- New Mexico wildfire spreads smoke across state
Firefighters are battling a massive wildfire in southwestern New Mexico that has destroyed a dozen cabins and spread smoke across the state, prompting holiday weekend air-quality warnings.
- Devils make Cup finals after 3-2 win over Rangers
Moments after sending the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 2003, Adam Henrique skated to the corner and waited to be mobbed by his teammates.
- Finland gunman who killed 1, wounded 8 is arrested
An 18-year-old gunman killed one person and wounded eight others in what appeared to be a random shooting in a southern Finnish town, police said Saturday.
- Brother of blind Chinese activist goes missing: lawyer
BEIJING (Reuters) - The brother of blind activist Chen Guangcheng has gone missing, a lawyer said on Saturday, days after he fled his village in northeastern China to seek help for his son who has been detained in a case that has become a rallying point among rights activists. Chen Guangfu, the eldest brother of Chen Guangcheng, fled his home in Shandong province and arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to seek legal help for his son, Chen Kegui, who is being held on an attempted murder charge. ...
- FACT CHECK: Obama off on thrifty spending claim
The White House is aggressively pushing the idea that, contrary to widespread belief, President Barack Obama is tightfisted with taxpayer dollars. To back it up, the administration cites a media report that claims federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since the Eisenhower years.
- Jenna Jameson arrested for suspected DUI in Calif.
Former adult film star Jenna Jameson has been arrested in Southern California for investigation of driving under the influence after she struck a light pole with her vehicle.
- Govt witness links medical waste to Clemens DNA
A prosecution witness told jurors that Roger Clemens DNA' showed up on two cotton balls and one needle allegedly used for a steroids injection of the famed pitcher. He then spent almost the entire day fielding questions from lawyers for both sides and from jurors.
- Judge to Edwards jurors: Don't discuss the case
Jurors in the John Edwards campaign fraud trial have the long holiday weekend to think over the case — but not talk about it — as the judge sternly warned before sending them home after six days of deliberations.
- Syria opposition urges UN action after 'massacre'
The opposition Syrian National Council has urged the UN Security Council to act urgently after claiming that regime forces "massacred" scores of civilians, including many children, in the town of Houla.
- Syria shelling killed over 90 - opposition
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The death toll has risen to at least 90 from Syrian shelling on the town of Houla on Friday, an opposition group said on Saturday. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said residents continued to flee the town, in central Homs province, in fear that artillery fire would resume. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the accounts from Syria, which has restricted access for journalists during a 14-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. ...
