OBAMA - EUROPE: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. President Barack Obama
arrived in Normandy on Saturday for ceremonies marking the 65th
anniversary of D-Day, the allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France
during World War II.
The two presidents will meet and then head to an American cemetery in
Normandy, next to one of the D-Day landing sites where they will be
joined by the leaders of Britain and Canada.
More than 150,000 U.S., Canadian, and British Commonwealth troops
landed on the beaches of northern France on June 6, 1944 to help
liberate Europe from the Nazis.
PAKISTAN: Pakistan's military says militants have attacked a convoy in the
country's northwest, killing two aides to a cleric who helped broker
the failed Swat Valley peace agreement with the government.
The army says the convoy was carrying prisoners from Malakand to the
city of Peshawar early Saturday when it hit a roadside bomb. Officials
say militants then opened fire on security forces, killing one soldier
and wounding five others.
Pakistani officials say prisoners Muhammad Alam and Ameer Izzat were
killed.
AFGHANISTAN: Afghan police say a suicide bomber has killed at least three people in the south of the country. Local police chief Jawid Ahmad said the bomber was also killed Saturday when he detonated his explosives while riding his motorcycle in the border town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province. Eight people, including women and children, were wounded in the attack. Spin Boldak is a major crossing point between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed at least five security guards escorting a NATO convoy in a similar attack in the area.
NORTH KOREA: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday his country will not
let North Korea use it nuclear threat to win concessions, and he called
for Pyongyang to return to six-party disarmament talks.
In a Memorial Day speech honoring the Korean War dead, Mr. Lee said
there will be no compromises with North Korea when the country
threatens the South's security.
The statement came the day after the U.S. government indicated it may
impose unilateral financial sanctions against North Korea, in addition
to whatever punishment the United Nations delivers in response to
Pyongyang's recent nuclear and missile tests.
MEXICO - CHILDREN: Mexican authorities say 29 children have died and dozens were injured in a fire that engulfed a day care center on Friday. Most of the victims died of smoke inhalation. Officials say the injured children have been taken to several hospitals. Authorities say at least 100 children were in the ABC day care center, in the northern city of Hermosillo in Sonora state, when the fire started. The federal government has sent three air ambulances and more than a dozen specialized doctors. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.
PERU - PROTESTS: Authorities in Peru say protesters are holding 38 police hostage,
following deadly clashes Friday between indigenous people and police.
More than 30 people were killed and 50 others wounded in the clashes
which erupted as indigenous people protested against energy exploration
on their lands in the Amazon.
The violence erupted in an area of northern Peru known as Curva del
Diablo or "Devil's Curve." Indigenous leaders say police shot at
hundreds of protesters from helicopters, but authorities say they were
attacked while attempting to break up a roadblock.
US - CUBA - SPIES: U.S. federal officials say a former State Department staffer with top
secret security clearance and his wife have been arrested on charges of
spying for Cuba over nearly 30 years.
The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that Walter Kendall
Myers and his wife Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers were arrested Thursday
by FBI agents.
Authorities say both suspects made initial appearances Friday in a
federal court in Washington, where they pleaded not guilty.
BRAZIL - FRANCE PLANE: The head of the French agency leading the probe into the crash of Air France Flight 447 says signals from the airplane before it vanished showed its autopilot was not turned on. Paul-Louis Arslanian said Saturday it is impossible to determine whether the the crew had turned off the autopilot, or if it had stopped working before the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean Monday. He says investigators are analyzing 24 error messages sent automatically in the final moments of the flight.
Listen to our World News for details.
