OBAMA - G8: U.S. President Barack Obama is in Italy Wednesday for talks with the
world's most powerful leaders during the Group of Eight economic summit.
The G8 leaders are meeting in the central city of L'Aquila, where a strong earthquake in April killed nearly 300 people.
The state of the global economy is expected to be the focus of a working lunch at the start of the three-day summit.
The group will consider whether more steps are needed to fix the economy and at what point stimulus spending should end.
CHINA - XINJIANG: Chinese President Hu Jintao is returning home from Italy to deal with ethnic violence in China's Xinjiang province.
The Chinese state news agency Xinhua says the president cut short his
visit and left for home early Wednesday. It says State Councilor Dai
Bingguo will replace Mr. Hu at the summit of the Group of Eight and
major developing countries later this week in the Italian city of
L'Aquila.
The government in the western region of Xinjiang has declared a curfew
following ethnic unrest that has paralyzed the main city of Urumqi.
CHINA - XINJIANG - REACT: The international community is expressing alarm over ethnic unrest in
China's northwestern Xinjiang province. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton told reporters (Tuesday) the United States is deeply concerned
over reports of deaths and injuries, and is calling on all sides to
exercise restraint.
The European Union called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict
between China's ethnic Uighur minority and the Han majority population,
in a statement issued by the bloc's Swedish presidency.
INDONESIA - POL: Exit polls show Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono winning a
second five-year term by an overwhelming margin in Wednesday's vote.
The unofficial count shows the incumbent president leading with more
than 60 percent of the vote, well over the 50 percent needed to avoid a
run-off in September. The so-called "quick counts" give former
President Megawati Sukarnoputri second place with 28 percent of the
vote, and Vice President Jusuf Kalla a distant third place with just 13
percent of the vote.
HONDURAS: The deposed president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, and the man who
helped oust him, Roberto Micheletti, have agreed to take part in
meetings aimed at solving the country's political crisis.
Both sides are expected to meet Thursday for U.S.-backed mediation
talks led by Costa Rican President and Nobel laureate Oscar Arias.
Mr. Zelaya was ousted in a military-led coup on June 28 and the Honduran Congress named Roberto Micheletti as interim president.
The caretaker government is becoming increasingly isolated and the Honduran people are divided over the issue.
PAKISTAN: Intelligence officials in Pakistan say a suspected U.S. drone has fired
missiles into a Taliban training camp in northwest Pakistan, killing up
to 10 militants.
It was the second suspected attack by an unmanned U.S. aircraft in the past two days.
Wednesday's early morning attack struck the South Waziristan tribal
area, along the border with Afghanistan. A drone attack in the area on
Tuesday killed 14 militants, including several foreigners.
The area is a stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, a top Taliban leader and
al-Qaida ally wanted by both Pakistan and the United States.
Listen to our World News for details.
