France Elects New President
France has a new leader after Socialist challenger Francois Hollande beat conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the French presidential election.
Final results Monday show Mr. Hollande won 51.6 percent of the vote to Mr. Sarkozy's 48.4 percent in Sunday's runoff election. French media say the outgoing president will officially hand over power on May 15.
The vote reflected citizens' disapproval of the country's spending cuts and high unemployment. The outgoing president said he takes responsibility for the election loss.
Mr. Hollande opposes many of the tough economic austerity measures in France. He will be the first left-wing French leader in almost 20 years.
Mr. Hollande is regarded as a mild-mannered career politician. He has promised to move quickly to implement a traditional socialist tax-and-spend program with higher taxes on the rich to help finance increased state spending.
He also is expected to try to renegotiate European Union-imposed austerity measures.
U.S. President Barack Obama telephoned his congratulations to Mr. Hollande Sunday and invited him to the White House before the G-8 and NATO summits later this month.
China Criticizes US Role in Dissident Case
China says the United States should “take necessary measures” to prevent a repeat of events like the case involving dissident Chen Guangcheng.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei made the comments Monday during a briefing in Beijing.
“The incident of last week reflected the U.S. interference with China's internal affairs. What the U.S. side should be doing now is to take on a responsible attitude to learn lessons from the relevant case, reconsider its policies and practice, and take necessary measures to avoid similar incidents happening again.''
Chen said Monday he does not expect any trouble from Beijing when he applies for permission to travel to the United States with his family.
The Reuters news agency said that during a phone interview Chen said he does not know when he will leave China, but that “it shouldn't be too long.”
Chen spoke from a Beijing hospital where he is being treated for injuries sustained during his escape from house arrest two weeks ago. The report quoted him as saying he is “feeling much better.”
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday the blind dissident's future is in the United States, and that the U.S. is ready to give Chen a visa right away.
Mr. Biden said Washington expects China to stick to its commitment to allow Chen to take up a fellowship offer at New York University.
China's foreign ministry on Friday said that Chen can apply to leave the country to study, “just like any other Chinese citizen.”
The announcement followed a series of appeals by Chen, who said he is worried about his safety and wants to travel to the U.S. “for a time.”
Chen originally agreed to a deal reached by U.S. and Chinese authorities that would allow him to stay in a “safe” place in China and study law. But he changed his mind hours after leaving U.S. protection, saying his family had been threatened.
Chen is a self-taught lawyer and human rights activist who has been blind since childhood. He was given a four-year prison sentence in 2006 for exposing abuses under China's forced abortion policy aimed at population control. He had been under house arrest since 2010, before fleeing on April 22 to the U.S. embassy.
Al-Qaida Militants Kill 20 Yemeni Soldiers
Yemeni military officials say suspected al-Qaida militants have killed at least 20 soldiers during a surprise attack in the country's south.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Monday's assault occurred in the volatile Abyan province.
The attack comes a day after a senior al-Qaida leader in the Gulf region was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Yemen. Officials say Fahd al-Quso was hit by a missile in Rafth, in the country's southern Shabwa province, along with another al-Qaida operative.
The Yemeni embassy in Washington said Quso was “one of Yemen's most wanted terrorists.” The terror group Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has confirmed his death.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington had placed Quso on its “most wanted” list. He was charged in a U.S. court with involvement in the October 12, 2000 bombing of the USS Cole at a port in Yemen – an attack that killed 17 American sailors and wounded dozens of others.
Suspected Bali Bomber Apologizes to Victims
An Islamic militant accused of making the bombs used in the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks has apologized to victims and their families.
During emotional testimony at his trial Monday, Umar Patek said he played only a small role in the attacks that killed 202 people, and did not know nightclubs were the target.
Patek faces a maximum penalty of death if convicted of charges that include premeditated murder, bomb-making and illegal firearms possession. He faces similar charges for his alleged role in deadly attacks on Christian churches in Jakarta on Christmas Eve of 2000.
Patek was captured in January of last year in the same Pakistani town where U.S. forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
The Bali attacks and a string of others aimed at foreigners in Indonesia over the past decade have been blamed on members of Jemaah Islamiyah – a hard-line Muslim group that has advocated creating an Islamic state spanning much of Southeast Asia.
Greek Conservatives Must Form Coalition Government
Greek voters have pushed the country into more political uncertainty after no party garnered nearly enough votes to form a government.
Results Monday from parliamentary elections the day before show the conservative New Democracy party winning about 19 percent of the votes. That is the most of any single party, but the percentage falls far short of the number needed to form a government on its own.
The Socialist PASOK party won less than 14 percent of the vote, after taking 44 percent just three years ago to take power in Greece. The leftist, anti-EU bailout Syriza party won about 17 percent in Sunday's election.
New Democracy party leader Antonis Samaras now has three days to form a coalition government. He is expected to begin coalition talks later Monday. Failure to form a coalition after three days leaves the task up to smaller groups.
PASOK took power in 2009 and soon discovered the country was deep in debt. It later entered into a coalition with the conservatives to get parliament to pass tough economic austerity measures. The EU demanded Greece impose the measures if it wanted crucial bailout money.
The measures include job cuts and tax hikes, infuriating millions of Greeks who say they sacrificed enough.
Both parties have said they will press the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank to ease austerity requirements imposed on Athens' debt-ridden government in return for more than $300 billion in two bailouts. But many Greeks accuse the ND-PASOK coalition of fueling the crisis with corrupt practices and widespread mismanagement.
Champion Mavericks head home, trailing Thunder 2-0
Last postseason, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks rode a wave of late-game comebacks to win the franchise's first NBA title.
Now the Oklahoma City Thunder are showing the Mavs how it feels to be on the other side.
Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Kevin Durant added 26 in an off-shooting performance and Oklahoma City clawed out a 102-99 victory over Dallas on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
The Mavericks led in the final minute in both road games so far, but couldn't even manage a split as the Thunder gutted out two wins by a total of four points.
"We just haven't made enough plays. It is tough, there's no question about it," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We've had opportunities and we haven't cashed in. They've made one more play than we have in both games. That's how playoff basketball is."
Durant hit two free throws with 50.4 seconds left to give Oklahoma City a 98-97 lead, and reserve James Harden hit all four of his foul shots after that to close it out for the Thunder.
Jason Terry missed two 3-point attempts from the left wing in the final 5 seconds that could have tied it and set up overtime. Instead, the defending champs head back home facing what amounts to a must-win Game 3 on Thursday night in Dallas.
"That's really all we need right now is to get on the board on Thursday," said Nowitzki, who led Dallas with 31 points but missed both his shots in the final 75 seconds.
"I still think the guys are upbeat, even though we're down 2-0. The guys know that we're right there. We're still in this if we get the game on Thursday."
If not, the Thunder will take a big step toward avenging last year's 4-1 loss in the Western Conference finals.
"Obviously, they have been here last year so they know what it takes," Harden said. "We've made it pretty far, so we know what it takes.
"It's going to be a battle."
Durant put the Thunder ahead to stay after salvaging two key points with Oklahoma City inbounding the ball with only 2.6 seconds left on the shot clock. He grabbed the inbounds pass from Harden while headed toward the sideline, and Terry was called for a foul for bumping him.
Durant hit both foul shots, and Nowitzki missed his chance to answer with a fade-away 12-foot jumper from the left side.
Harden, only eight days removed from sustaining a concussion as the result of elbow from Metta World Peace, grabbed the rebound on Nowitzki's shot and got fouled to set up the first of his four clinching free throws in the last 26 seconds.
"That's what the playoffs are about," Westbrook said. "Toughness."
The late-game struggles are exactly the opposite of last year's championship run, when the Mavs got two fourth-quarter rallies while sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers and closed out the Thunder with back-to-back comebacks from deficits of 15 and eight points in the fourth quarter.
But it's a continuation of the regular-season series, when Dallas led in the final 3 minutes of both games in Oklahoma City and lost them both.
"We're just a couple bounces away from being up 2-0," Nowitzki said. "It's tough and it's frustrating, but we're going to keep coming. We're not going to lay down. If they beat us, we're going to make them earn it."
Source-SI
Venezuela's Chavez to head back to Cuba for more cancer treatment
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Monday he will return to Havana to undergo more cancer treatment.
The 57-year-old president has been back and forth several times this year between Venezuela and Cuba, where he is being treated for an unspecified type of cancer. He returned home from his latest trip Thursday.
"We're in the home stretch," the president said about his radiation treatment. He spoke during a ceremony to sign a new labor law, during which he also called for Venezuela to withdraw from the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
"Enough already!" he said of the Washington-based body, accusing the United States of using it as a way to harm Venezuela.
Chavez asked a newly created council to take up the matter.
The president pulled a cross from his breast pocket, kissed it and clasped it in his fist.
"I am confident Christ will repeat, or continue, the miracle," he said, his voice cracking with emotion as he wrapped up his address.
Chavez said he would return to Venezuela within "a few days." Since the beginning of the year, he has spent 50 days in Cuba.
The Venezuelan government has released few specifics on the president's illness, fueling widespread speculation about his health and political future. Chavez has led Venezuela since 1999 and has pledged to run for re-election in October.
--BBC
Bridesmaids and The Hunger Games lead MTV nominations
Comedy Bridesmaids and cult teen film The Hunger Games are leading this year's MTV movie awards nominations, with eight nods each.
Both are up for prizes including best cast, breakthrough performance and movie of the year.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, The Help and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 are also nominated for movie of the year.
The winners will be decided by public vote. The awards ceremony is on 3 June.
There are 12 categories this year, of which six are new including best on-screen dirtbag and best gut-wrenching performance.
Nominees were previously selected by the public but this year they were chosen by a panel of actors, producers, agents and industry insiders.
Bridesmaids stars Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy have two nominations each. Both are up for best comedic performance, while McCarthy is also nominated for breakthrough performance and Wiig is up for best female.
McCarthy was also nominated in the best supporting actress category at this year's Oscars.
The Hunger Games has been a global box office hit - worldwide takings have topped £335m and it spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the US and Canadian film chart.
It took $155m (£97m) at the US box office in its opening weekend.
The MTV Movie Awards ceremony takes place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Los Angeles, and will be broadcast live on MTV.
Rupert Murdoch 'not fit person' to lead News Corp, say MPs
Rupert Murdoch "is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company", MPs have said.
The cross-party culture committee questioned journalists and bosses at the now closed paper, as well as police and lawyers for hacking victims.
Its report has concluded that Mr Murdoch exhibited "wilful blindness" to what was going on in his media empire.
And it said the News of the World and News International misled Parliament about the scale of phone hacking.
The committee of MPs began its inquiry in July 2011 in the wake of fresh newspaper revelations about the extent of hacking at the tabloid newspaper, with reported victims including the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and the families of victims of the 7/7 London bombings.
It heard evidence from Mr Murdoch and his son James, and has now concluded that the notion that a hands-on proprietor like Rupert Murdoch had "no inkling" that wrongdoing was widespread at the News of the World was "simply not credible".
It noted that the newspaper mogul had "excellent powers of recall and grasp of detail when it suited him".
The committee also criticised three former News International executives - one-time executive chairman Les Hinton, former News of the World editor Colin Myler and former legal manager Tom Crone.
And it concluded: "Corporately, the News of the World and News International misled the committee about the true nature and extent of the internal investigations they professed to have carried out in relation to phone hacking; by making statements they would have known were not fully truthful; and by failing to disclose documents which would have helped expose the truth."
Foam attack
James Murdoch told the committee last summer that he did not see an email which suggested that hacking was more widespread at the paper than previously acknowledged - a claim disputed by Mr Myler and Mr Crone in their evidence.
Mr Murdoch, who was among those recalled to give evidence, has said he did not know about any wrongdoing but took "his share" of responsibility for not uncovering it earlier.
He gave evidence alongside his father Rupert, who at one point during the hearing was attacked by a man who rushed forward from the public gallery and threw a paper plate of foam, which hit the elder Murdoch's skin and clothes.
That particular appearance was also the occasion which the News Corporation chairman and founder described as the most humble day of his life.
After initially claiming that malpractice was limited to one "rogue" reporter at the News of the World, News International has now settled dozens of civil cases admitting liability for hacking between 2001 and 2006.
More than 6,000 possible victims have been identified and the police have so far made a number of arrests in connection with an investigation reopened in January 2011 - although no charges have yet been brought.
'Shielded'
Media regulator Ofcom is currently looking into that issue.
The hacking revelations led to the closure of the News of the World and the government's decision to set up a judicial inquiry into press standards headed by Lord Leveson.
Appearing before the Leveson inquiry last week, Rupert Murdoch said there had been a "cover-up" which "shielded" senior figures at the paper and its parent company - including himself and his son James - from knowledge of wrongdoing taking place.
Among others cross-questioned by MPs during their inquiry included former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, former NI chairman Les Hinton and former Met Police deputy commissioner John Yates - who decided against opening a new hacking inquiry in 2009.
The committee, which previously investigated hacking as part of a report into press standards in 2010, has said it was unable to publish its latest report before now due to the amount of evidence that emerged during its public hearings.
--BBC
France election: Le Pen vows to abstain in run-off
France's National Front leader Marine Le Pen has vowed to abstain in Sunday's presidential election run-off vote.
Ms Le Pen told a mass rally in Paris she could back neither President Nicolas Sarkozy nor the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande and told supporters to follow their conscience.
Ms Le Pen won 6.5 million votes - 17.9% - in the first round of the election.
The latest opinion polls suggest Mr Hollande has a six to 10 point lead over Mr Sarkozy.