Pressure on blind Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng’s family shows that his flight does not mean China will relax its grip on dissent. Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng after a press conference in New York on May 19
A strong earthquake in north Italy has killed at least six people, injured dozens and damaged historic buildings including a famed medieval castle. The quake, which happened early on Sunday, awoke terrified citizens and sent thousands running into the streets
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan at their wedding ceremony in Palo Alto on May 19. (AP) The 28-year-old billionaire’s wedding took place a day after Facebook’s initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday. More than 280 000 people “liked” Zuckerberg’s status change, which was accompanied by a photo of the smiling couple in wedding attire in a small, verdant outdoor setting with a string of lights behind them
20 May 2012 Last updated at 03:54 GMT Disputes over territory and borders have pushed the Sudans to the brink of war African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki has said Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir is committed to security agreements with the South. The former South African president has been in Khartoum to attempt to restart negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan.
Pakistan has blocked access to Twitter in response to “blasphemous” material posted by users on the website, a senior government official says. “This has been done under the directions of the Ministry of Information Technology.
The quake, which the US Geological Survey recorded at magnitude 6.0, struck northern Italy at 2.04am GMT while most people were sleeping. The damaged clock tower of Finale Emilia, Italy, on May 20. (AP) A strong earthquake rocked a large swathe of northern Italy early on Sunday, killing at least four people, injuring dozens and seriously damaging historic buildings such as churches, bell towers and a mediaeval castle
19 May 2012 Last updated at 18:37 GMT Somali government soldiers are seen here patrolling the Bakara market last month Somali government soldiers are among five people killed in two bombings in the capital Mogadishu, attacks blamed on al-Shabab Islamist fighters. A bomb planted under a tree in the north of the city killed at least three soldiers and one pedestrian, security officials said. In the other attack, a bomb, possibly a grenade, killed at least one person in Bakara market area
President Joyce Banda has said she wants Malawi to overturn its ban on homosexual acts – the first African country to do so since 1994. Two Malawian men were sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2010 after saying they were getting married. Several Western leaders have recently said they would cut aid to countries which did not recognise gay rights
Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng said on Saturday he has left a hospital in Beijing and believes he will be headed on a flight to the US. Chen Guangcheng holds hands with US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke, at a hospital in Beijing. (US Embassy Beijing Press Office, AP) Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng said on Saturday he has left a hospital in Beijing, where he has been for the past three weeks since he sought refuge in the US embassy, and was waiting at the airport
Meeting at President Obama’s Camp David retreat, the G8 club of developed nations have focussed their discussions on growth and fiscal reforms. US President Barack Obama speaks at the start of the first working session of the G8 Summit at Camp David. Seated, clockwise from left, are Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Francois Hollande, Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and European Commission President Jose’ Manuel Barroso, back to camera.
