UK-World Summary
U.S. House passes sweeping healthcare overhaul
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a sweeping healthcare reform bill on Saturday, backing the biggest health policy changes in four decades and handing President Barack Obama a crucial victory. On a narrow 220-215 vote, including the support of one Republican, the House endorsed a bill that would expand coverage to nearly all Americans and bar insurance practices such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions.
SPECIAL REPORT: In eastern Europe, people pine for socialism
BELENE, Bulgaria - In the dense forests of the idyllic Danube island of Persin, home to the endangered sea eagle and the pygmy cormorant, lie the ghastly remains of a communist-era death camp. Hundreds "enemies of the regime" perished from beatings, malnutrition and exhaustion in 1949-59 in Bulgaria's Belene concentration camp, where dead bodies were fed to pigs.
Obama wraps up Afghan review, eyes final options
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama is wrapping up deliberations on war strategy in Afghanistan and is considering final Pentagon options that include sending about 30,000 more troops, officials said on Saturday. A deployment of that size would be less than the 40,000-troop increase recommended by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, but more than many of Obama's Democratic allies may support.
Market attack in NW Pakistan kills at least 5
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy market on the outskirts of Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday, killing at least five people and wounding many, police said. The attacker targeted mayor of Matni village who was a vocal opponent of the militants. Matni is close to the lawless tribal lands where Islamist militants are active.
Honduran rivals signal new bid to solve crisis
TEGUCIGALPA - Honduras' ousted president and de facto leader gave signs they would try again on Saturday to form a unity government to guide the country out of a four-month crisis after the process collapsed a day earlier. President Manuel Zelaya, a refugee in his own country in the Brazilian Embassy, early on Friday declared dead a pact to end the crisis, while de facto leader Roberto Micheletti said he would form a new government without Zelaya's participation.
Afghanistan hits back at U.N. and foreign criticism
KABUL - Afghanistan accused the United Nations on Saturday of intervening in the formation of President Hamid Karzai's next cabinet, less than a week into his new term. Since being re-elected in a controversial poll in which a fraud investigation rejected more than a million of his votes, Karzai has been under intense pressure from his Western backers to introduce swift anti-corruption reforms.
Lebanon's Hariri set to form government with Hezbollah
BEIRUT - Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri will announce a new national unity government to include Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in the next few days, politicians said on Saturday. Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Hariri led his coalition, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, to victory in a June parliamentary election against Hezbollah and its allies.
Iran says over 100 people detained at anti-U.S. rally
TEHRAN - Iranian police detained more than 100 people for "disturbing public order" during a rally this week to mark the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday. Security forces clashed with supporters of Iran's opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran on Wednesday when an annual state-organised rally marking the 30th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy turned violent.
China's Wen seeks to boost Africa ties
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt in loans and credit at the last summit in Beijing in 2006.
Haiti's new prime minister wins confirmation
PORT-AU-PRINCE - The lower house of Haiti's parliament confirmed Jean-Max Bellerive as prime minister on Saturday, clearing the way for the economist and veteran politician to form a new government. An overwhelming majority of members in the Chamber of Deputies ratified Bellerive as the new premier of the impoverished Caribbean nation. He was appointed to the position by President Rene Preval last week.