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France readies for poll, Sarkozy closes on Hollande

Campaigning ended on Saturday in France for a decisive second-round presidential vote expected to crown Francois Hollande the country’s first Socialist leader in two decades despite polls showing president Nicolas Sarkozy clawing back... Full story

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Syrian troops tear-gas Damascus mourners

Regime troops used tear gas on Saturday to try to disperse a mass funeral attended by thousands of people who took to the streets of the Syrian capital to mourn slain protesters, a rights group said. Full story

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Japan switches off final nuclear reactor

Japan switched off its last working nuclear reactor Saturday, leaving the country without atomic-generated electricity just over a year after the world’s worst nuclear accident in a quarter of a century. As technicians closed down the No. 3 unit at Tomari in... Full story

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Islamic police play matchmaker in Nigeria

A line of women wait their turn at a building in northern Nigeria, ready to participate in a programme local officials hope will bring two results: marriage and peace. The programme run by the Islamic sharia police... Full story

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Pakistan a failed state: US lawmaker to Gilani

Influential American Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has told the Pakistani prime minister, Yousuf Gilani, that his country is a failed state and no amount of US aid money will ever change that. Full story

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9/11 mastermind, co-plotters in Guantanamo court

The self-confessed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and four co-accused appeared in a Guantanamo Bay court Saturday to be arraigned, all facing the death penalty if convicted. Full story

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13 dead, Russian tourists missing in Nepal flood

A river near one of Nepal’s most popular Himalayan resorts killed 13 people and left 17 missing — including three Russian tourists — when it burst its banks and swept away a village Saturday. Full story

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Afghan girl’s torturers get 10 years’ jail

The case of a tortured Afghan child bride whose treatment shocked the world has led to three members of her husband’s family being jailed for 10 years, an official said Saturday. Sahar Gul, 15, who was burned and... Full story

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Pakistan buries victims of suicide attack as toll rises

Tribesmen in a troubled border district of northwest Pakistan on Saturday buried the victims of a deadly suicide attack as the death toll rose to 29, officials said. Government offices and private markets in... Full story

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Mass detentions in Egypt after deadly Cairo clashes

Egypt’s military ruler attended Saturday an unprecedented public funeral for a soldier killed in clashes with protesters as the army detained 179 people over the violence in the run-up to landmark presidential polls. Full story

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Thousands of South Sudanese to be repatriated

Up to 15,000 ethnic South Sudanese who have been encamped in crowded conditions in Sudan will be flown to South Sudan, avoiding a May 20 expulsion deadline by local authorities, the IOM said on Saturday. Full story

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Obamas kick off campaign

With his wife at his side and Air Force One as a campaign plane, US president Barack Obama holds his first political rallies of the 2012 presidential race on Saturday, targeting two swing states that could be... Full story

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Kahn faces group rape claim

French investigators looking into Dominique Strauss-Kahn's ties to a suspected prostitution ring in the northern city of Lille want to extend the inquiry to cover alleged group rape by the former IMF chief and three... Full story

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10 Palestinian hunger strikers in hospital

Ten Palestinian hunger strikers held at an Israeli prison have now been moved to hospital because of their deteriorating health, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said Friday. Full story

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Conservatives dominate Iran elections

Islamic fundamentalist candidates dominated Iran’s run-off parliamentary elections seen as a pointer for next year’s presidential race, results showed on Saturday. Results announced by the interior... Full story

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