International Business News - Politics & Policy http://www.ibtimes.com/politicsnpolicy/ All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 400 100 http://www.ibtimes.com/ http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif A series of clashes, airstrikes and bomb blasts left 10 militants and four civilians killed in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. A roadside blast hit a vehicle in the eastern Paktia province, leaving three civilians dead early Saturday, said government spokesman Ghamai Mohammadi. 118005 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/10-militants-4-afghans-in-violence.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 06:25:32 EDT Pakistani lawyers met Saturday to decide whether to mount street protests against the government after its failure to reinstate judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf. 118042 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/pakistan-lawyers-mull-street-protests.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 06:22:00 EDT President Bush pivoted to the Arab side of the Mideast peace dispute on Saturday, but he may well get a less glowing reception than he did in Israel earlier this week. 117979 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48085-bush-mideast.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/bush-fails-to-win-saudi-help-on-gas-prices.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/bush-fails-to-win-saudi-help-on-gas-prices.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 06:19:26 EDT Thousands of Chinese earthquake victims fled areas near the epicenter Saturday, fearful of potential floods from a river blocked by landslides. Soldiers carried older people out of Beichuan town _ one of the areas hit hardest by the magnitude 7.9 quake Monday _ while survivors cradled babies on a road jammed with vehicles and people. The death toll jumped to near 29,000. 117987 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48082-china-earthquake.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/trapped-survivors-freed-after-nearly-100-hours.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/trapped-survivors-freed-after-nearly-100-hours.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 06:17:50 EDT Turkey's state-run news agency says six Kurdish rebels have been killed in a clash with soldiers in eastern Turkey. Anatolia news agency says the clash erupted in Van province near the border with Iran on Saturday. Three other rebels were injured. 118041 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48072-turkey-britain-royal-visit.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/report-6-kurdish-rebels-killed-in-turkey.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/report-6-kurdish-rebels-killed-in-turkey.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 06:16:50 EDT Leaders of Lebanon's U.S.-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition are sitting down behind closed doors. They're sitting down in Qatar for the highest-level talks so far in the 18-month political crisis. 118040 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48071-qatar-lebanon-leaders.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/high-level-lebanese-talks-in-qatar.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/high-level-lebanese-talks-in-qatar.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 06:10:05 EDT In a sign of warming relations, China has invited the head of Taiwan's incoming ruling party to visit the mainland, where he is to meet with President Hu Jintao. 118019 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48070-aptopix-china-earthquake.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/report-china-invites-taiwan-party-head-to-visit.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/report-china-invites-taiwan-party-head-to-visit.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 06:06:10 EDT North Korea is offering China $100,000 to help earthquake survivors. The North's Korean Central News Agency said Saturday the country made the offer to China's government, which is scrambling to cope with the aftermath of Monday's magnitude 7.9 quake. It did not elaborate. 118039 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48069-china-earthquake.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/north-korea-offers-aid-for-quake-victims.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/north-korea-offers-aid-for-quake-victims.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 06:00:00 EDT Jennifer Marsh was sick of paying high gas prices and bothered by the abandoned gas station that was an eyesore on the drive to her studio each day. So the aspiring artist and inspired activist came up with an idea _ to cover the gas station with a colossal handmade blanket in a way that would bring greater attention to the world's dependency on oil. 118035 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/artist-covers-old-gas-station-with-huge-blanket.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:54:10 EDT Sri Lankan air force jets bombed an air strip used by Tamil Tiger rebels, while 16 insurgents were killed in ground clashes in the north, the military said Saturday. 118038 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/sri-lankan-military-bombs-rebel-air-strip.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:53:00 EDT Islamic insurgents in Somalia seized a major agricultural center overnight, sending hundreds of people fleeing, a human rights leader said Saturday. The attack underscored the government's vulnerabilities, as U.N.-sponsored peace talks stalled in neighboring Djibouti. 118015 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/islamist-fighters-seize-town-in-somalia.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:51:29 EDT A Chinese government spokesman says the confirmed death toll in this week's massive earthquake has risen to almost 29,000. Cabinet spokesman Guo Weimin gave the figure Saturday at a news conference. The government has already said it expects the eventual death toll to surpass 50,000. 118030 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48060-aptopix-china-earthquake.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/govt-spokesman-death-toll-in-china-quake-almost-29k.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/govt-spokesman-death-toll-in-china-quake-almost-29k.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:45:37 EDT The army says six rebels have been killed in a gunbattle between security forces and suspected Islamic militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Indian army spokesman Lt. Col. Anil Kumar Mathur said the rebels were killed Saturday after army and police jointly cordoned off the forest area of Lurgam village following a tip off that militants were hiding there. 118031 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48038-india-kashmir-security.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/6-rebels-killed-in-gunbattle-in-indian-kashmir.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/6-rebels-killed-in-gunbattle-in-indian-kashmir.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:43:59 EDT Acrid smoke from charcoal-making blankets this Amazon logging town with the smell of business as usual. Less than three months ago, federal agents swooped in to close sawmills, confiscate wood and smash charcoal furnaces in a government crackdown on illegal logging. 118033 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48059-brazil-logging-crackdown.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/brazils-illegal-logging-hard-to-combat.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/brazils-illegal-logging-hard-to-combat.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:42:44 EDT Voters in Kuwait lined up Saturday to vote in landmark parliamentary elections that could substantially change the legislative body of this tiny, oil-rich Gulf emirate following electoral reforms to reduce corruption and vote buying. 118032 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48062-kuwait-elections.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/kuwaitis-elect-new-parliament.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/kuwaitis-elect-new-parliament.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:41:17 EDT A French navy ship carrying 1,000 tons of food idled near Myanmar's coast Saturday, awaiting permission from the uncooperative ruling military regime to dock in the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta. 118000 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48037-myanmar.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/death-toll-from-myanmar-cyclone-nearly-doubles.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/death-toll-from-myanmar-cyclone-nearly-doubles.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:39:55 EDT China's nuclear safety agency had ordered staffers to be prepared for an environmental emergency the day after a massive earthquake jolted a region that includes several key atomic sites. 118013 http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/48018-china-earthquake.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/us-monitoring-chinas-nuclear-sites-after-quake.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/us-monitoring-chinas-nuclear-sites-after-quake.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:31:33 EDT Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan was freed unharmed three months after he vanished in a tribal area in Pakistan's border region, a foreign ministry official and a relative said Saturday. 118014 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/abducted-pakistani-diplomat-freed.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:04:50 EDT The giant Texas sinkhole that formed last week is now a lake big enough to become the home of an alligator. Area residents believe the reptile was washed into the 600-foot-diameter crater by water from surrounding swamps. 118034 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/texas-sinkhole-becomes-a-lake-home-to-alligator.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 05:01:38 EDT Robert Mondavi, the vintner who built his career and helped an iconic Northern California industry blossom by insisting that Napa Valley wines can compete with the best in the world, died in the valley Friday. He was 94. 117983 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080517/calif-wine-patriarch-robert-mondavi-dies-at-94.htm Sat, 17 May 2008 04:15:44 EDT