2009-06-12 20:10:03 -
UPCOMING COVERAGE FOR SATURDAY, JUNE 13
ITALY-G8
LECCE, Italy _ Finance ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations gather to take stock of progress in combating the global financial crisis. News conference at 1400 GMT. AP Photos.
ITALY-STUDENT SLAIN
PERUGIA, Italy _ Trial for U.S. and Italian suspects for slaying of British student resumes.
POLAND-GAY RIGHT
WARSAW, Poland _ Polish gay rights activists hold a gay pride parade in Warsaw as part of a struggle for acceptance in this deeply conservative Roman Catholic country. AP Photos.
CROATIA-GAY RIGHTS
ZAGREB, Croatia _ Croatian activists hold a gay pride parade, which has been disturbed by opponents in past years in this predominantly Roman Catholic country. This year, a nationalist group, organized through Facebook, plans to hold an anti-gay parade. On merits.
MOVED FRIDAY
ITALY-STUDENT SLAIN
PERUGIA, Italy _ An American student accused of murdering her British roommate took the stand for the first time Friday, telling an Italian court in a quavering voice that she saw the victim hours before the killing, then went to her boyfriend's house for the night. By Marta Falconi. AP Photos.
POLAND-GAY RIGHTS
WARSAW, Poland _ Poland's gay rights community is gearing up for a weekend pride parade in Warsaw, an event that authorities in past years tried to ban and right-wing protesters vented their fury against with eggs and rocks. By Vanessa Gera. AP Photos.
SWINE FLU VACCINE
LONDON _ With swine flu now an official pandemic, the race is on among drugmakers to produce a vaccine. By Maria Cheng.
WITH: SWITZERLAND-NOVARTIS-FLU VACCINE
NATO-DEFENSE MINISTERS
BRUSSELS _ NATO will keep a counter-piracy flotilla off the Horn of Africa, where international patrols have been key to preventing attacks in one of the world's busiest sea lanes, the alliance's top official said. By Slobodan Lekic. AP Photos.
WITH: US-AFGHANISTAN
POLAND-JOHN PAUL II'S FRIEND
WARSAW, Poland _ To him, she was «My Dear Dusia» and he signed his letters «Br» _ short for brother. In the cloistered universe of the Vatican, Pope John Paul II had a woman friend with whom he shared spiritual thoughts in a series of letters that spanned the decades. Now she is defending her recent book of correspondence with the pope against criticism from church officials that she «exaggerated» her friendship with the late pontiff and could delay his beatification. By Monika Scislowska and Nicole Winfield. AP Photos.
BRITAIN-BEATLES' LUCY ILL
LONDON _ They were childhood chums. Then they drifted apart, lost touch completely, and only renewed their friendship decades later, when illness struck. Not so unusual, really. Except she is Lucy Vodden _ the girl who was the inspiration for the Beatles' 1967 psychedelic classic «Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds» _ and he is Julian Lennon, the musician son of John Lennon. By Gregory Katz. AP Photo.
ITALY-LIBYA
ROME _ Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave Italians a contradictory take on women's rights Friday, criticizing Islam's treatment of women but then suggesting it should be up to male relatives to decide if a woman can drive. By Ariel David. AP Photos.
GERMANY-CLIMATE TALKS
BONN, Germany _ U.N. climate delegates completed their first rough sketch of a new global warming agreement Friday, a draft replete with gaps and competing ideas that await decisions by political leaders. By Arthur Max. AP Photos.
NETHERLANDS-HEALER CLEARED
AMSTERDAM _ A Dutch court acquitted the country's best-known spiritual healer of complicity in the death of a popular actress who died of breast cancer in 2001 after refusing regular medical treatment.
BRITAIN-CITY OF FILM
LONDON _ The magic of the movies sparkles on sunny Hollywood, glamorous Cannes _ and, now, gritty Bradford. The northern English city best known for its rain, shuttered textile mills and inexpensive curry restaurants has been named the United Nations' first-ever City of Film. By Jill Lawless.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
EU-MICROSOFT
BRUSSELS _ European Union regulators said Microsoft Corp. was offering less choice, not more, by vowing to sell the next version of Windows without any Web browsers at all. By Aoife White.
ITALY-G8 FINANCE MINISTERS
LECCE, Italy _ Rifts appeared to be emerging at a summit of top finance officials here over the priority of drafting a so-called «exit agenda» from hefty government spending plans that have provided stimulus for the global economy as it now shows signs of recovery from the credit crisis. By Business Writer Jane Wardell.
EUROPE-ECONOMY
LONDON _ Industrial production in the 16 countries that use the euro slumped in the year to April, official figures showed, more indication that the euro zone may emerge from recession later than the United States or Britain. By Pan Pylas.
BRITAIN-BARCLAYS
LONDON _ Shares in Barclays PLC fell in London following the announcement that it had sold its Global Investment unit to U.S. fund manager BlackRock Inc. for $13.5 billion. By Robert Barr.
SWEDEN-SAAB SALE
STOCKHOLM _ General Motors Corp.'s Saab unit said a deal to find a new owner was «just around the corner» but added that nothing has been finalized and didn't name any potential buyers. By Karl Ritter and Louise Nordstrom.
The AP
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