Palace: Prince William's wife, Kate, in labor

July 22, 2013

LONDON (AP) — Prince William's wife, Kate, is in the early stages of labor in a private wing of a central London hospital, palace officials said Monday.

It is a historic moment for the British monarchy — the couple's first child will become third in line for the British throne, after Prince Charles and William, and should eventually become king or queen.

William and Kate entered St. Mary's Hospital in central London through a side door early Monday morning, avoiding the world's media. Palace officials confirmed her arrival about 90 minutes later. Royal officials said they traveled by car, without a police escort, just before 6 a.m. Kate — also known as the Duchess of Cambridge — is expected to give birth in the private Lindo Wing of the hospital, where Princess Diana also gave birth to William and his younger brother, Prince Harry.

"Things are progressing as normal," the couple's spokesman said. She will be looked after by a top-notch medical team led by royal gynecologist Dr. Marcus Setchell. Palace officials are not expected to provide many details about how her labor is progressing.

The baby is in line to become Britain's monarch and be recognized as head of state in 15 other countries, including Canada and Australia, playing a leading role in charting the future of the Commonwealth.

But little else is known, including how the baby will arrive — it is not clear if Kate will have a natural birth or deliver by a planned cesarean section — its gender and its name. Royal watchers must wait to be told of the baby's arrival from the palace, which is planning to reveal the news through a mixture of tradition and social media.

Palace officials have said that the first hint will come when a royal aide emerges from the hospital with a signed bulletin carrying the Buckingham Palace letterhead. The bulletin will be given to an official who will be driven to Buckingham Palace, where it will be posted on an easel in public view in front of the building.

At the same time the bulletin is posted, there will be an official announcement on Twitter and the media will be formally notified. The document will give the baby's gender, weight and time of birth. It could be some time before the baby's name is made public. When William was born, a week passed before his name was announced. Charles's name remained a mystery for an entire month.

But it is the baby's gender that is of particular interest because the prospect of Kate's pregnancy prompted a change to laws of succession to ensure a daughter would not be passed over for the crown by a younger brother. Boy or girl, the child will be the prospective future monarch.

The birth of a new heir to the throne has been breathlessly anticipated since William and Kate wed on April 29, 2011, in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Despite a rough start to the pregnancy, when she was hospitalized for acute morning sickness, the 31-year-old Kate made a number of public appearances that were halted only near the end of her term.

Since the duchess has cut back on her royal duties, media outlets have been clamoring for position outside of the hospital in anticipation of the birth, jockeying to secure the best vantage point for filming William and Kate emerging, baby in arms.

Officials have said that William plans to take two weeks' paternity leave and then return to his military duties as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot in Wales. His tour of duty is scheduled to wrap up around September, and he and Kate are expected to move from their isolated cottage on the island of Anglesey off the coast of Wales to Kensington Palace in central London.

But major refurbishment works at the palace likely won't be finished until at least a month or two after the infant is born — meaning that William and Kate will most likely have to make do with their current temporary home in London, a two-bedroom property at the palace.

Come autumn, however, the family will be able to move into their permanent London home, Apartment 1a at Kensington Palace — a four-story house with a nursery, 20 rooms and a private garden.

EU declares Hezbollah's military wing terror group

July 22, 2013

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has declared the military wing of Lebanese party Hezbollah a terrorist group.

A French diplomat says that the Monday decision by the EU's 28 foreign ministers was reached unanimously. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The Iranian-backed group plays a pivotal role in Lebanese politics, dominating the government since 2011, and has since sent its members to bolster Syria's President Bashar Assad forces in their assault of rebel-held areas.

Spain beats Ghana 1-0 in Under-20 WCup

June 25, 2013

ISTANBUL (AP) — Spain became the first team to advance to the knockout stages of the Under-20 World Cup, earning a lackluster but welcome 1-0 victory over Ghana on Monday.

The United States boosted its chances of reaching the final 16 with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with France after a late strike by Daniel Cuevas. Spain, the tournament favorite, was a shadow of the team that routed the Americans 4-1. It rarely threatened and often appeared unsettled by Ghana's pressing style.

The only real chance for Spain came in the 13th minute when Denis Suarez took a long ball and sent a pass to an unmarked Jese who tapped it in. Ghana had the better chances in the second period but struggled to finish.

A header from Frank Acheapong went wide in the 55th and then Yiadome Boakye spun around and fired his shot just over the goal three minutes later. Ghana's Ebenezer Assifuah was taken down in the area in injury time by defender Israel Puerto but no penalty was called.

"We played a strong physical team and we had a lot of chances," Spain coach Julen Lopetegui said."We scored one goal and dominated the second half. We are very happy to be in the second round." Ghana's Sellas Tetteh praised his players' "brave" effort and blamed the poor finish on his side's inexperience.

It now must beat the United States Thursday in its final group match for any chance of advancing. "You never call it over until it's over," Tetteh said. "That is the game of football. There is nothing that is impossible. We will give it our final shot."

In the earlier match, France looked on pace to win and advance after Auxerre striker Yaya Sanogo scored his second goal of the tournament from a penalty kick in the 48th minute. It came after Dimitri Foulquier was sideswiped by America's Javan Torre in the area.

The United States had few chances and failed to convert — the worst when Luis Gil's penalty was easily saved in the 65th. But the Americans grew in confidence toward the end and it paid off in the 85th. Gil made up for his miss, curving a free kick into the area that Cuevas pounced on and scored.

"I feel like they were confused. They couldn't get the ball out and luckily it took a bounce my way and I got to push it in," Cuevas said. The late goal showed the character of the American team, he said.

"Our team is very united and we are always together and pushing forward," Cuevas said. "If things don't go our way, we keep trying and keep trying until they do. Luckily we got the tie." Coach Tab Ramos admitted he was a "little disappointed" with the performance from the Americans early on but happy to come away with a draw.

"My disappointment is that in a game like today we should have gotten all three points," Ramos said. "At the end of the day, it was great courage, effort by our team." The United States now sits third, three behind France for the second automatic qualifying spot. It is unlikely to overtake France due to goal difference but still has a strong shot at one of the four spots for third-placed teams.

France, which could have advanced with a win, failed to repeat the form that beat Ghana 3-1 in its opener. "I don't think we had a great control of the game tonight," France coach Pierre Mankowski said. "It feels a bit strange because the U.S. team was hardly dangerous. But they had situations they should have never had. We conceded a penalty and a free-kick, which led to their goal."

France will be without captain Paul Pogba for their final group match against Spain after a second yellow card in two matches. "The boys were really disappointed at the end of the game," Mankowski said. "Playing without Pogba for the last crucial game against Spain is something we have to figure out tomorrow when things will be quieter."

In the other early match in Group B, Nigeria got its campaign on track with a 3-0 win over newcomer Cuba. Aminu Umar scored twice in four minutes and captain Abdul Ajagun got his third of the tournament as the African team easily beat Cuba.

Nigeria opened the scoring when Olarenwaju Kayodefed fed Umar for the easy tap-in with 19 minutes gone. Four minutes later, Abdullahi Shehu drilled a cross which Umar flicked between his legs for the goal.

The Nigerians completed the route in the 67th when Kingsley Madu's cross was headed home by Ajagun. South Korea twice came from behind to draw with Portugal 2-2 in the other Group B match. With the draw, South Korea and Portugal are level on four points with Nigeria a point behind in third.

Portugal's Aladje opened the scoring with a header before Ryu Seung-Woo drew the Koreans level just before halftime. Sporting Lisbon's Armindo "Bruma" got his third goal of the tournament in the 60th before Kim Hyun drew the Koreans level again in the 76th.

Strong earthquake in western China kills 54 people

July 22, 2013

BEIJING (AP) — A shallow earthquake struck a dry, hilly farming area in western China early Monday, killing at least 54 people, injuring nearly 300, and destroying thousands of homes, the local government said.

The quake hit near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province, a hilly region of mountains, desert and pastureland about 1,233 kilometers (766 miles) west of Beijing. Residents described shaking windows and swinging lights but there was relatively little major damage or panic in the city itself. Tremors were felt in the provincial capital of Lanzhou 177 kilometers (110 miles) north, and as far away as Xi'an, 400 kilometers (250 miles) to the east.

"You could see the chandeliers wobble and the windows vibrating and making noise, but there aren't any cracks in the walls. Shop assistants all poured out onto the streets when the shaking began," said a front desk clerk at the Wuyang Hotel in the Zhang County seat about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the epicenter. The clerk surnamed Bao refrained from identifying herself further, as is common among ordinary Chinese.

The government's earthquake monitoring center said the initial quake at 7:45 a.m. (2345 GMT Sunday) was magnitude-6.6 and subsequent tremors included a magnitude-5.6. The quake was shallow, which can be more destructive. The center said it struck about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) beneath the surface, while the Gansu provincial earthquake administration said it was just 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) deep.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the initial quake as 5.9 and the depth at 10 kilometers (6 miles). Initial measurements of an earthquake can vary widely, especially if different monitoring equipment is used.

The deaths and injuries were reported in Min County and other rural southern parts of the municipality, Dingxi Mayor Tang Xiaoming told state broadcaster CCTV. Tang said damage was worst in the counties of Zhang and Min, where scores of homes were damaged and telephone and electricity services knocked out.

Su Wei, leader of a 120-member rescue team from the paramilitary People's Armed Police, told state broadcaster CCTV that they were on their way to the epicenter, but progress was being slowed by mud and rock slides blocking the road.

The Chinese Red Cross said it was shipping 200 tents, 1,000 sets of household items, and 2,000 jackets to the area and sending teams from both Lanzhou and Beijing to help with relief work and assess further needs.

Heavy rain is expected in the area later in the week, raising the need for shelter and increasing the chance of further landslides. More than 1,200 homes were destroyed by the quake, with another 21,000 badly damaged, provincial government spokesman Chang Zhengguo was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

With a population of 26 million, Gansu is one of China's more lightly populated provinces, although the New Jersey-sized area of Dingxi has a greater concentration of farms in rolling hills terraced with fields for crops and fruit trees. Dingxi has a total population of about 2.7 million.

China's worst earthquake in recent years was a 7.9-magnitude temblor that struck the southwestern province of Sichuan in 2008, leaving 90,000 people dead or missing.

Prince William and Kate Timeline

July 22, 2013

LONDON (AP) — Prince William and his wife Kate, both 31, are expecting their first child, to be third in line for the throne. Here are some highlights of their lives and of the royal pregnancy:

—Sept. 2001: Prince William and Kate Middleton meet at St Andrews University in Scotland where they are both studying art history. —Christmas 2003: The pair reportedly become a couple after sharing a house together with two friends. In March they are pictured together on a skiing holiday in Switzerland.

—Nov. 16, 2010: William and Kate's engagement is announced by Clarence House officials. The prince proposed to Kate while on a private holiday to Kenya the previous month. —April 29, 2011: The pair wed in a lavish ceremony at London's Westminster Abbey. William is made the Duke of Cambridge by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and Kate becomes the Duchess of Cambridge.

—Dec. 3, 2012: The palace announces that Kate is pregnant and being treated in hospital for acute morning sickness. Kate is discharged from the hospital after three nights, telling reporters she is feeling "much better." The palace later announces that the bay is due in July.

—Feb. 5: The couple holiday on the Caribbean island of Mustique with Kate's parents. —March 5: Kate apparently lets slip that she is expecting a daughter on a solo visit to Grimsby. Accepting a teddy bear from a member of the public, she apparently replies: "Oh, is this for our d...? Thank you so much." The possible slip of the tongue prompts a wave of betting on a royal daughter.

—March 17: Kate tells a soldier at a St Patrick's Day parade that they do not know the sex of the child, but says she would like a boy and William a girl. —March 20: Kate given a "Baby on board" badge when she joins the Queen and Prince Philip at Baker Street underground station to mark the 150th anniversary of the Tube.

—May 11: Kate and William attend William van Cutsem and Rosie Ruck Keene's wedding in Oxfordshire, England. The pair reportedly take to the dance floor despite Kate being seven months pregnant. —June 4: William and Kate return to their wedding venue at Westminster Abbey when they join the royal family for a service marking the 60th anniversary of the Queen's Coronation at Westminster Abbey.

—June 13: Kate carries out her final solo engagement before going on maternity leave when she names a new cruise liner — the Royal Princess — in Southampton. —June 15: The Duchess makes her last scheduled public appearance before the birth at the Trooping the Color parade.

—June 19: It is confirmed Kate is planning to give birth at the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington, where Princess Diana gave birth to William and Prince Harry. It is reported Kate is hoping for a natural birth.

Some facts and figures about Belgium's monarchy

July 21, 2013

BRUSSELS (AP) — Here is a brief look at the state of Belgium's monarchy as King Albert abdicates, making his son Prince Phillipe the country's seventh king.

NO RULING QUEENS? Not yet. For years, only men were entitled to the top royal job, until 1991 when laws were changed to allow princesses to take the throne. That means that Philippe's eldest daughter, Princess Elisabeth, becomes first in line to the throne after he becomes king.

WHO IS PRINCE PHILIPPE? He is the eldest of Albert's three children — two sons and a daughter — and husband of Princess Mathilde, with whom he has two sons and two daughters. For a man seen as lacking charisma and political savvy, he has an impressive resume. He is a trained fighter pilot, went to Oxford University and Stanford grad school, and has led dozens of trade missions boosting Belgian business around the world.

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT? Being king might sound like a dream job, but in Belgium the monarch has to serve as a unifying figurehead of a nation increasingly divided between Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia. The rift is so deep that it took more than 500 days to build a new ruling coalition after the last general election.

WHAT'S THEIR PROBLEM? Well, it's mainly about money: The Dutch-speaking Flemings argue that their prosperous region has for decades been economically propping up the more impoverished French-speaking Wallonia.

DIDN'T ANOTHER EUROPEAN ROYAL JUST QUIT? Indeed. In neighboring the Netherlands, Queen (now Princess) Beatrix abdicated in May and her son Prince (now King) Willem-Alexander took the throne at a lavish ceremony attended by princes and princesses from around the world.

SO IS BELGIUM HOSTING A BIG PARTY, TOO? Yes and no. Sunday is a national holiday in Belgium, so it's always a party and with the changing of the royal guard it's going to be even bigger than usual. But the guest list is low key, with no foreign royals attending the festivities. Also missing the party are Flemish nationalist lawmakers of the Flemish Interest party who are boycotting the new king's swearing-in ceremony to highlight their republican sympathies and desire for an independent Dutch-speaking Flanders.

WHAT BECOMES OF THE ROYAL TITLES? Once a king, always a king, applies to Albert. And once a queen, always a queen, applies to his wife, Paola. In a nation so ambivalent about royalty, Belgium will have two kings and three queens on Monday. The ruling couple of Philippe and Mathilde to start with, followed by the retired couple of Albert and Paola. Plus Queen Fabiola, the widow of Baudouin, Albert's predecessor.

ANY ROYAL SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET? After Albert succeeded his brother Baudouin, he became embroiled in a major royal scandal when he acknowledged he'd had a daughter out of wedlock, throwing his marriage with Queen Paola into a major crisis. The issue came to the fore again this spring when the daughter, Delphine Boel, opened court proceedings to prove Albert is her father.

Philippe becomes king of Belgium

July 21, 2013

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgians shouted "Long live the king" Sunday to welcome their new monarch to the throne on a sunny national holiday. But several legislators from northern Flanders boycotted King Philippe I's coronation, highlighting longstanding feuding between the nation's Dutch-speaking Flemings and Francophones — the biggest challenge the new monarch will face.

In his first speech as king shortly after his father King Albert II abdicated, Philippe made no attempt to paper over those cracks, instead casting the country's division between its 6 million Dutch-speaking Flemings and 4.5 million Francophones as one of its strengths.

"The wealth of our nation and our institutions consists in turning our diversity into a strength," he said after taking his oath of office at the country's parliament. The ceremony capped a day of transition which started when Philippe's father, the 79-year-old Albert, signed away his rights as the kingdom's largely ceremonial ruler at the royal palace in the presence of Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, who holds the political power in this 183-year-old parliamentary democracy.

Less than two hours later, the nation got its seventh king when Philippe, 53, pledged to abide by Belgium's laws and constitution. Big crowds of royalists and well-wishers cheered the royal family's every move Sunday, from a morning Catholic ceremony to an impromptu dusk balcony scene 13 hours later, with the once-timid Philippe kissing new Queen Mathilde several times under a full moon to augur in a sultry night of celebration in the royal park.

"We have lived through a beautiful day," Philippe told thousands of evening revelers. "Let's be proud of our beautiful country." Far from everybody in Belgium was happy with the new king. One Flemish separatist group, the Flemish Interest party, boycotted the parliamentary ceremony, while the legislature's biggest party, the N-VA New Flemish Alliance, sent only a limited delegation.

"We are full-blooded democrats and the purest form of democracy is the republic," said Jan Jambon, the parliamentary leader of the N-VA alliance, which has surged to become the main opposition party seeking Flemish independence through democratic transition. It wants the new king not to have any role in coalition negotiations to form a new government, not be head of the armed forces and not sign any laws.

The small N-VA delegation highlighted one of the biggest challenges Philippe will face in his reign — how to remain relevant as a unitary symbol in a nation ever more drifting apart between the prosperous northern Flemings and the economically struggling southern Francophones.

Briefly, at least, the differences took a back seat Sunday as the new royal couple, flanked by huge bouquets of white roses, lilies and gerbera, appeared for the midday official palace's balcony scene, cheered by some 10,000 well-wishers braving the relentless sun.

President Barack Obama sent the new king congratulations. "The president also sends his heartfelt appreciation to King Albert II for his warmth, service, and leadership as he steps down after nearly 20 years," the U.S. government statement said. "Belgium is a valued friend of the United States, and the president looks forward to continuing to deepen this bond in the years to come."

Unlike a disturbance during the oath-taking by King Albert II 20 years ago, when one legislator shouted "Long live the European Republic," Sunday's ceremony in the packed legislature went off without a hitch, with Albert and Philippe's wife, Queen Mathilde, looking on as he confidently took the oath.

Philippe has long been contested as a worthy successor of Albert, but after years of wooden and awkward public performances, the silver-haired, bespectacled monarch came over as poised on the day he had been groomed for all of his adult life.

"Belgium is modernizing itself and it gives me joy," Albert said as he signed away his rights as the kingdom's largely ceremonial ruler at the royal palace. Albert announced his abdication plans less than three weeks ago, so there was little time to turn the occasion into a huge international event. No foreign royals were at the ceremony. Since the royal transition coincides with Belgium's national day celebrations, a military parade had already been planned.

Philippe will face a tough task in the coming months. The nation holds parliamentary elections in June 2014 amid calls, led by the N-VA, for even more autonomy for the language groups. And perhaps even less power for the king himself.

Up to now, the monarch is still involved in government formation talks by picking go-betweens and brokers to set up multiparty coalitions reaching across the linguistic divide. Anti-royalists consider even that too much power. "There is only one place where he belongs and that's in fairytales," said Michel Mischeenaker, an anti-royalist activist who stood outside the church where Sunday's ceremonies started.

After the last elections in 2010, it took a record 541 days to form a government amid bickering about how much more power should be sapped from the central state to profit the separate language groups.

Unlike his five predecessors, Albert tried to avoid politics as much as possible and Philippe is expected to do likewise. Philippe has prepared for the monarchy as a leader of foreign trade delegations over the past two decades.

"He is a very wise person, a person who is very well prepared," said EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who attended the ceremony. "He knows the politics of Belgium and Europe very well." As the evening drew to a close, Philippe capped it with the most bilingual of Belgian wishes: "Vive la Belgique! Leve Belgie!"

Belgium gets new king when Philippe takes over

July 19, 2013

BRUSSELS (AP) — In a fractious nation ever more divided by language, it may be too much to ask for a royal to hold it all together. Belgian King Albert on Sunday hands over the throne to his son Philippe in a day-long ceremony, but the transition from a trusted monarch to an untested successor gives Belgians yet another subject to disagree on.

During his two-decade reign, Albert oversaw much of the steady unraveling of the unitary country into a federal state where 6 million Dutch-speaking Flemings and 4.5 million French-speakers increasingly live apart.

So even if Sunday's celebrations feature heartwarming balcony scenes with the new royal couple kissing and acknowledging the cheers of the crowd below, King Philippe may face trouble as early as next June, when elections will question everything from Belgian nationhood to the place of the monarchy.

"It will be his litmus test," said Brussels University professor Marc Uyttendaele. After the last elections it took a record 541 days before a government could be formed amid much bickering about how much more power should be sapped from the central state to profit the separate language groups.

A large majority of Belgians and political parties happily lived with a royal family led by an apolitical King Albert, who brought a sense of fun and warmth to an institution that had rarely given Belgians much to cheer about.

At 79, though, he has grown increasingly frail. Since he decided to step down on July 3, he has been doing a farewell tour of the major cities on both sides of the linguistic frontier that cuts the kingdom in half.

For many in many in northern Flanders, the monarchy has long been seen as a francophone institution working at the expense of the Dutch-speakers. Historically, royals have had trouble yielding to a parliamentary democracy and Albert was seen as the first to play the part perfectly.

Belgians will be relieved if Philippe takes after him. "Let him continue like his father. Because everybody was very happy," said teenager Thibault Beyaert, who cheered Albert in Ghent, bedecked in Belgian colors and waving a tricolor flag. "It can only be positive."

In the Flemish city 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital, there was still uncertainty about Philippe. "There were people who said that 'no, he is not ready', but it is not true," said Monica Couvent as she stood among the throngs and discussed the largely unproven crown prince. "He must be given the opportunity."

It he is not ready at 53, he may never be. When Albert's brother, King Baudouin, died in 1993, everything pointed to Philippe taking over instead of his father. It didn't happen, and in a major surprise at the time, the man who was never expected to be king, began a 20-year reign as monarch.

Philippe, who is married to Princess Mathilde and has four children, has been groomed for the job as a leader of foreign trade delegations. Silver-haired and bespectacled, he has the looks of a future monarch, if not the natural grace.

"He is not the smoothest of characters," said historian and author Marc Reynebeau. "It is wait and see. He made a few statements that were less than promising." Making some allusions that he would let himself be heard on the political stage, Philippe has produced fodder for anti-royalists. "He said he had a mission when he is there for a ceremonial role. He should not have a mission," said Reynebeau.

The Flanders region has two parties with an anti-royalist streak — the leading New Flemish Alliance and the extreme right Flemish Interest party. The Flemish Interest party won't even show up when Philippe takes the oath in parliament on Sunday. For its leader, Gerolf Annemans, the abdication of Albert would have been the right moment for change to a presidential system — one for an independent Flanders at least.

"We thought it was a good occasion to end this whole theater," he said. "The king is part of the Belgian theater. He is just the puppet on a string."

Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands contributed to this report.

Prince William to get 2 weeks of paternity leave

July 19, 2013

LONDON (AP) — He may be royal, but when it comes to paternity leave Prince William is in the same boat as everyone else. Like thousands of other new fathers in Britain, he will get two weeks off when his child is born.

Along with British society, the royal family has been gradually modernizing its attitudes to birth and parenting. William's father, Prince Charles, was present at the birth of his two sons, who were born in a hospital rather than a palace — both breaks from royal tradition. But William is the first senior royal to receive statutory paternity leave, which was introduced in Britain in 2003.

Some family campaigners say William, a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot, is setting a good example in a country where until recently new fathers have taken little time off. But others say two weeks is not enough, and argue social and economic pressures still discourage fathers from spending time looking after their newborns.

"There is an element that employers — and men themselves — are thinking of them as the ones who earn the money and stick in that role when children come along," said Jeremy Davies of the Fatherhood Institute think tank. "It can be quite difficult to set yourself apart from that."

Under British law, William is entitled to two weeks off at a flat pay rate of just under 137 pounds ($206) a week. He's lucky — the military is among employers that pay more, and he will receive his full salary for the fortnight.

The government says two-thirds of new fathers take some paternity leave, but less than half take the full two weeks. Some are ineligible because they are self-employed or haven't been at a job for at least six months. Others just can't afford it.

Mothers, who receive the bulk of parental leave, can take up to a year off, though only 39 weeks of it is paid, and not at full salary. The rules are changing. Under recent changes, new fathers can take up to six months leave by using up some of the year of a partner who has returned to work.

But few do. Elizabeth Gardiner of campaign group Working Families said that in the first year the flexible leave was offered, only 1,650 men in Britain took it. She said the solution is to set aside some time off for fathers only — a practice in Scandinavia known as "daddy months."

"If you really want fathers to take up leave you have to earmark it for them and you have to pay it properly," she said. That's what they do in Sweden, where new parents can take 16 months' paid leave, divided between the parents as they like. Two months can only be taken by the mother and two months by the father — if not, the time cannot be transferred to the partner and is forfeited.

As an incentive, it works — In 2000, Swedish men took out only 12.4 percent of parental leave; by 2010 their share had nearly doubled to 23.1 percent, according to government statistics. At the other end of the scale is the United States, where there is no government-subsidized nationwide paid paternity leave, though some companies and a few states including California offer it. Many companies and the public sector offer unpaid leave to new fathers.

Britain is moving to offer fathers more time. Under legislation currently before Parliament, from 2015 parents will be able to split the 50 weeks of paid leave as they like. Changing attitudes may be harder than changing the law. A recent study by the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto found that men who take on caregiving duties at home receive more abuse at work than men who stick to conventional gender roles.

"It was a pretty powerful result," said Jennifer Berdahl, professor of organizational behavior at the Rotman School. "Men who did relatively more caregiving at home experienced a lot more 'not man enough' harassment and teasing that threatens their status in the workplace."

Prime Minister David Cameron took two weeks' leave when his daughter Florence was born in 2010, and it drew comment — some approving, some critical of a national leader stepping back for 14 days to look after a baby.

Jeremy Davies of the Fatherhood Institute said William was setting a good example — up to a point. "What would be fantastic would be to see Prince William to take some time where he was the primary carer at some time during the first year," Davies said. "That's the stuff that leads to a really strong relationship with the child."

Russian opposition leader returns to Moscow

July 20, 2013

MOSCOW (AP) — Hundreds of supporters greeted the charismatic Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as he returned to Moscow on Saturday after his surprise release from jail and vowed to push forward with his campaign to become mayor of the Russian capital.

Navalny was convicted of theft and sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday in the city of Kirov, in what many considered a politically motivated case aimed at silencing a fierce Kremlin critic. Less than 24 hours after his conviction for embezzling 16 million rubles ($500,000) worth of timber from a state-owned company in 2009, prosecutors unexpectedly asked for his release, saying that keeping him behind bars during the appeals process would deprive him of his right to run for office.

A day before the conviction, Navalny was registered as a candidate for the Sept. 8 mayoral election. Hundreds of police blocked Navalny supporters from the platform of the Moscow railway station where his overnight train from Kirov arrived at the capital's Yaroslavsky station.

Through a bullhorn, he addressed backers who were behind the police lines and on nearby station platforms, thanking those who turned out for a large demonstration near the Kremlin protesting his sentence on Thursday, which he credited as key in securing his release.

"I realize that if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be standing here for the next five years. You have destroyed a key privilege that the Kremlin has been trying to keep — that it is their alleged right to say to any person 'arrest him on the spot'," said Navalny, who claims that the case against him was concocted for political reasons.

Navalny is one of the most visible and charismatic leaders of the opposition to President Vladimir Putin and the governing United Russia party. His description of United Russia as the "party of crooks and thieves" has become a signature phrase of the opposition.

Immediately after his release, Navalny said he hadn't decided whether to continue his mayoral campaign. But on Saturday he declared "we are going to run in this election and we will win." His supporters shouted "We are the power."

The surprising about-face involving Navalny highlights an open rift between factions in Putin's government that could be as unsettling for the leadership as any opposition figure, experts say. Analysts saw Navalny's sudden release as likely reflecting arguments within the Kremlin about how to respond to his popularity. He has earned a wide following among his urban middle-class supporters, even if he has little influence among everyday Russians.

They also saw the move as an attempt to lend legitimacy to the Sept. 8 mayoral vote widely expected to be won by a Kremlin-backed incumbent who resigned last month, forcing a snap election that would make challengers scramble to organize their campaigns.

An opinion survey in early July by the independent Levada polling center showed Navalny attracting only about 8-percent support among likely voters in the mayoral election. It was unclear if the events of the past week would boost his support.

Pope seeks Catholic rebirth in land of samba

July 20, 2013

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The white sands of Copacabana beach typically draw millions of sun-worshipers, New Year's Eve revelers and fans for free concerts by the likes of Stevie Wonder and the Rolling Stones. In the coming week, the star of the show is infinitely less flamboyant than Mick Jagger, but he promises to stir up just as much passion among devotees.

Pope Francis, the 76-year-old Argentine who became the church's first pontiff from the Americas in March, will turn the crescent-shaped shoreline into a giant stage for his first international trip as pope, returning to the embrace of Latin America to preside over the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day festival.

The pontiff is coming to the heart of a city known for pricey real estate and sexy samba with a message of humility, simplicity and support for the poor — priorities that he has set out already in his four months as pope.

The Catholic Church in Brazil is one he knows well, aware that it is losing legions of adherents to Pentecostal churches and secularism. But Catholic youth festivals are meant to reinvigorate the faithful, and Francis, a soccer-loving native son, is expected to rally young people with his humble and unconventional ways.

More than a million young Catholics are expected to flock to Rio to celebrate their new pope. The city overseen by the giant Christ the Redeemer statue has mobilized thousands of soldiers and police to make sure the visit goes smoothly, even as violent anti-government protests continue to erupt a month after Brazil saw mass demonstrations nationwide.

Some residents have already prepared a uniquely Rio de Janeiro welcome for Francis: They've built from sand life-sized images of the pope on Copacabana, in place of the usual sculptures of bikini-clad beauties.

Rafaela Bastos, a pilgrim walking along the beach a few days before the pontiff's arrival, said the "Francis effect" was already evident. As she spoke, an army of construction workers toiled at a furious clip on the beach to finish the enormous, white altar where Pope Francis will celebrate a Mass.

"Francis has captivated me; he's absolutely won me over," said the 23-year-old from Brazil's Minas Gerais state. "He's brought the church close to the people and especially to young Catholics. He's creative, he's modern, he's not changing doctrine, but he seems far more flexible and open to discussion."

That Francis is from Latin America "just makes him even better: He understands our culture and that brings him closer to us and allows us to understand him," Bastos said. Despite such optimism, these are worrying times for the church, and Brazil's case is emblematic.

The vast nation was 89 percent Catholic when Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit in 1980. According to the national census, that figure had dropped to 65 percent by 2010. Such declines are happening all over Latin America, which is one of the church's remaining strongholds amid growing secularism in Europe and the United States. Sex abuse and corruption scandals have further eroded trust in the church.

Francis's response to the challenges has been to help find "an entirely new way to interact with the world" by the manner in which he communicates, said Sao Paulo Cardinal Odilo Scherer, one of two Latin Americans named to the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization created in 2010.

"The church, Christianity, the Catholic faith cannot be apart from the world," Scherer said. "It must be a part of the world, inside of it, and it must interact with modern society if it hopes to have repercussions and influence."

Francis has moved quickly to build a more everyman approach to his office. He still refuses to sign his name as pope, rarely refers to himself as pontiff, and thinks of his role more as a good pastor — and a good role model for other pastors. Once a priest who rode the subway to work, he is now a pope who spurns the ornate symbols of power: He passed on the red papal shoes for his old black ones and shed the fancy papal residence and gold pectoral cross.

Recently, Francis skipped a concert held in his honor in the Vatican auditorium, something unheard of among popes. Instead, he left his white papal chair empty as the concert went on without him. "He doesn't seem to be interested in the kind of symbolic things that hold him at the center," said the Rev. Joseph Fessio, a fellow conservative Jesuit and head of U.S. publisher Ignatius Press.

Still, he hasn't shied from flexing his papal authority. Francis' audacious decision to canonize Pope John XXIII was evidence that he knows full well how to wield papal power. Francis bypassed Vatican rules that require confirming a second miracle to John's credit before he could be declared a saint, skipping that formality so he could canonize both the liberal "father" of the Second Vatican Council and the conservative John Paul. That was seen as a balancing act aimed at keeping the disparate wings of the church happy.

So far, Francis' changes appear to have paid off, with public opinion polls showing broad popularity, at least among Catholics. One recent survey in Italy said 96 percent of Catholics there have "a lot" of trust in Francis, a level not seen since the apex of John Paul s papacy. A Pew Research poll in the U.S. said 84 percent of American Catholics also have a favorable view of the pontiff, compared to 67 percent for Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, in the first Pew poll taken after his election.

"I think the 'Francis effect' is real. He's captured the world's imagination. He comes across as more authentic because he practices what he preaches," said David Gibson, author of a biography on Benedict XVI. "He looks like your parish priest, he talks like your parish priest, and people connect with that.

"But people from the U.S. to Africa to Asia are watching and wondering how he'll come off. Will Pope Francis translate from Rome to Rio?" Francis will certainly take every opportunity to show off his simpler touch in Brazil, the world's biggest Catholic country, especially after what many considered the more aloof style of Benedict, who visited Brazil in 2007.

Francis is also well known for his outreach to Jews, Muslims and even atheists, so his appeal doesn't seem limited to Catholics alone. What's unclear, however, is how he will deal with the millions of Brazilians who have left the Catholic faith for evangelical churches that the Vatican considers "sects." Francis has no official encounters planned with representatives of other faiths.

After meeting with President Dilma Rousseff shortly after his arrival Monday, Francis will take a day off on Tuesday. On Wednesday he will begin his public activities in the rolling hills of rural Sao Paulo state, visiting a huge shrine built around a small clay statue of the Virgin Mary that is a figure of worship for millions of Brazilians. In Rio, he'll walk the Stations of the Cross surrounded by more than a million young devotees on Copacabana beach as part of World Youth Day festivities.

In one of the key events of his trip, the church's first Jesuit leader will venture into a rough slum that sits along a violence-soaked road known by locals as the Gaza Strip. For many Brazilians, images of that visit will conjure memories of the still beloved John Paul II, who made his own visits to Rio's slums in 1980 and 1997. Since then, evangelical groups have made deep inroads into Brazil's slums with their hands-on ministry of personal improvement and self-discipline.

Through much of the trip, Francis will forego the bullet-proof popemobile used by his two predecessors and instead wade through crowds in an open vehicle, a move strongly opposed by Brazilian security officials.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Francis chose to leave the popemobile home because he likes being able to get on and off the open-topped car to greet the faithful — something that's not possible from the bulletproof cage of the more secure vehicle.

Such moves are being closely watched by Brazilians such as Fernanda Neves, a 24-year-old lapsed Catholic in Brazil's biggest city, Sao Paulo, who this month attended her first blessing rite in more than a decade.

In a tiny chapel tucked behind the Sao Judas sanctuary in a working-class neighborhood, Neves looked startled when beads of holy water hit her forehead and dripped down onto her hot pink shirt as a young priest moved around the room, blessing the two dozen faithful gathered.

"I was raised in the church, my family is strongly Catholic, but by age 14 I felt emptiness in Mass. The messages were irrelevant to me," said Neves. "But this new pope, he speaks my language, he seems like a man of the people. It's easier to understand what he wants from us and I think he'll help bring Brazilians back to the church."

Associated Press writer Bradley Brooks reported this story in Rio de Janeiro and Nicole Winfield reported from Rome.

Spain corruption protesters clash with Madrid cops

July 19, 2013

MADRID (AP) — Thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy demonstrated Thursday night in Madrid, and what started as a peaceful event turned violent toward midnight after riot police clashed with some protesters, resulting in at least several people arrested and injured.

The protesters jammed downtown streets outside the Madrid headquarters of the ruling Popular Party, insisting that Rajoy should leave office because of allegations he received payoffs from a slush fund before his party won elections in 2011. Thousands more also demonstrated in Barcelona.

Shortly before midnight, groups of protesters in Madrid clashed with police wielding batons. An Associated Press photographer saw one protester with his face bloodied, a police officer hurt by a flying projectile and at least two protesters arrested by authorities.

The demonstrations came after opposition leaders this week called for Rajoy to explain himself before Parliament or face a censure vote. Rajoy on Monday brushed off demands he should resign after text messages emerged showing him comforting a former political party treasurer under investigation over a slush fund and secret Swiss bank accounts. The treasurer has claimed Rajoy took under-the-counter payments, accusations denied by Rajoy.

The spectacle of alleged greed and corruption has enraged Spaniards hurting from austerity and sky high unemployment.

Protestants attack Belfast cops over blocked march

July 13, 2013

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Protestant hardliners attacked lines of Belfast riot police Friday as Northern Ireland's annual mass marches by the Orange Order brotherhood reached a furious, chaotic end with running street battles at several conflict zones.

In north Belfast, police in flame-retardant suits and helmets deployed a half-dozen armored cars to block a road so that Protestant Orangemen could not march past the edge of Ardoyne, a militant Catholic district that has become the most bitterly contested spot on the city map.

Men jumped on top of the armored barricade and, as hundreds of marchers and supporters formed a sea of often alcohol-fueled fury behind them, wielded pipes, golf clubs, wood planks and even ceremonial swords to vandalize the police vans.

Emboldened, some threw bottles and bricks point-blank into police lines. Many in the mob cheered as one policeman, struck and knocked semiconscious, was dragged to safety by colleagues. Officers responded by firing a massive mobile water cannon at the rioters, propelling at least one shirtless man sideways off the roof of an armored car and on to the pavement, his forehead split open.

But the Protestant crowd kept swelling and hurling objects into police lines, forcing officers to respond with volleys of snub-nosed plastic bullets in a failed bid to force the crowd to disperse or retreat.

During melees that lasted for hours, police said at least 23 officers and several rioters were injured, as was the Protestant politician who represents north Belfast in British Parliament, Nigel Dodds.

Dodds was struck in the head with a brick and knocked unconscious while talking to Orangemen standing near the police barricade. His Democratic Unionist Party, the largest in Northern Ireland, later said he had regained consciousness in Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital.

Leaders of the Orange Order vowed to keep Protestants rallying to the confrontation zone until police caved in and permitted the march past Ardoyne. The police commander, Chief Constable Matt Baggott, said his force would stand its ground and gather video evidence against the many hundreds of rioters.

Police were enforcing a surprise decision by a British-appointed Parades Commission to bar the Orangemen from using the main road beside Ardoyne to return Friday night to their nearby lodge, the first time such an order had been given.

The cross-community commission said it wanted Orangemen to stay away from that 300-yard stretch of road because, for the previous four years, Irish Republican Army splinter groups based in Ardoyne had attacked police with gunfire, grenades, firebombs and other weapons and wounded more than 250 officers in clashes that always followed the Orangemen's passage.

Orangemen accused the commission of surrendering to IRA violence and warned that both sides could play that game. More than 4,000 Northern Irish officers and 630 reinforcements imported from Britain were deployed to keep control of the streets for this year's "Twelfth," Northern Ireland's official sectarian holiday, when the British Protestant majority commemorates a 17th-century military victory over their Irish Catholic foes.

In a sign that police expect Protestants to riot all weekend, police installed portable toilets and stacked pallets of bottled water for officers manning the armored-car barricades near Ardoyne. Commanders requested several hundred more police reinforcements from Britain due to arrive Saturday.

Police also faced angry crowds around Short Strand, the only Catholic enclave in otherwise Protestant east Belfast. There, rival crowds of youths traded salvos of bottles, bricks, golf balls, bolts and ball bearings over high security fences called "peace lines." Police suffered barrages of firebombs from the Protestant side and responded with more water-cannon blasts.

Police advised motorists to avoid much of north and east Belfast to avoid becoming trapped in the mob violence. Before the rioting began, Orange leaders marched to the Parades Commission headquarters and unfurled a banner that read, "We will not be defeated. No surrender."

Orange leaders laid blame in advance for any bloodshed on the Parades Commission, which since 1997 has imposed restrictions on Orange marches to minimize conflict with Catholic communities. Arguments over Friday's violence threatened to create a rift in Northern Ireland's unity government, a 6-year-old coalition of political extremes that has governed Northern Ireland with surprising stability in fulfillment of the territory's 1998 peace accord.

First Minister Peter Robinson, a Protestant who leads the Democratic Unionist Party, blamed Short Strand's Catholics for starting the rioting in east Belfast and the Parades Commission for creating an explosive situation in Ardoyne.

Robinson said Protestants felt "justifiable anger and frustration at the Parades Commission, who bear much responsibility for the situation in Belfast as do those who attacked parades as they passed certain locations." But he said Protestants' attacks on police and Catholics "can never be justified and must stop."

His major Catholic partners in government, the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party, accused Robinson of blaming everyone but those most responsible: Orange Order leaders. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said Orange chiefs whipped Protestants into a frenzy and called their leadership "a disgrace."

His Sinn Fein colleague, Alex Maskey, called Robinson's response to the violence "disappointing and a failure in leadership." Robinson is seeking an emergency recall of the Northern Ireland Assembly next week to debate the reasons for barring the Orangemen from Ardoyne and the causes of Friday's disorder.

"The Twelfth" commemorates the July 12, 1690, triumph of Protestant King William of Orange against the Catholic he dethroned, James II, in the Battle of the Boyne south of Belfast. The Orange Order, founded in 1795 as a force for uniting often-feuding Protestant denominations under one anti-Catholic banner, was instrumental in creating Northern Ireland in 1921 shortly before the predominantly Catholic rest of Ireland won independence from Britain.

Catholic clashes with police over Protestant marches triggered the rise of Northern Ireland's modern conflict in 1969. The issue has defied resolution despite a two-decade peace process that has delivered paramilitary cease-fires, British military withdrawals, police reform and a power-sharing government.

Friday's approximately 550 Orange parades attracted unusually heavy crowds of spectators, who brought lawn chairs to the roadsides and basked in exceptional sunshine on what was the hottest, muggiest day of the year.

Among the Belfast spectators, many bedecked in Union Jack-patterned hats and sunglasses, was a sleeping infant bearing a bib that read, "My 1st Twelfth."

N.Ireland Protestants burn bonfires before marches

July 12, 2013

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Shouting "No surrender!" and singing anti-Catholic songs, Protestant hardliners across Northern Ireland burned midnight bonfires topped with Irish flags and prepared to parade past Catholic areas Friday in an annual test for the British territory's peace process.

Northern Ireland leaders appealed for calm and police braced for trouble on "the Twelfth," an annual sectarian holiday that always inflames tensions with the Catholic minority. At least two Protestants were arrested during bottle-throwing skirmishes with police near the scene of several Belfast bonfires early Friday.

The police commander, Chief Constable Matt Baggott, took the unusual step of importing 630 police officers from England and Scotland to beef up his own 7,000-member force. The officers have already received Northern Ireland-specific riot training as part of their deployment last month to provide security for the Group of Eight summit of world leaders.

Baggott said the reinforcements would help deter trouble when the major British Protestant brotherhood, the Orange Order, mounts 550 parades in commemoration of a 17th century military victory over Irish Catholics. He said 43 parades would pass near potentially hostile Catholic areas.

"Violence is not inevitable," said his deputy overseeing the police operation in Belfast, Assistant Chief Constable Will Kerr. For more than two centuries, Orangemen have marched to commemorate July 12, 1690, when forces loyal to William of Orange, the newly crowned Protestant king of England, routed the army of the deposed Catholic king, James II, in a river valley south of Belfast.

Orangemen march beneath banners portraying the British crown atop an open Bible and proclaim William as defender of their civil and religious liberty on what was then, and now, a mostly Catholic island.

Most Catholics loathe the marches as a Protestant effort to intimidate and insult them, a view underscored by the Orangemen's accompaniment on parade by so-called "kick the pope" bands of fife and drum playing a mixture of Gospel and sectarian tunes. The bonfires similarly attract Catholic scorn because they are adorned with Irish and papal flags and anti-Catholic messages.

Protestant youths placed a stolen Virgin Mary statue on one bonfire in west Belfast. But older residents spotted the statue and returned it Thursday to the Holy Cross Catholic Church in the north Belfast district of Ardoyne, where the parish priest thanked them for what he called their "incredibly responsible act."

The Rev. Gary Donegan said the statue's rescue "proves there are leaders within our communities who remain committed to taking positive steps for peace." But police prepared for march-related trouble at several Belfast spots near Catholic areas, particularly Ardoyne, a power base for the outlawed Irish Republican Army. Ardoyne was been wracked by violence following the Twelfth parades every year since 2009.

A British government-appointed panel called the Parades Commission since 1997 has imposed restrictions on the path of Orange parades to minimize contact with Catholic communities, but the effort faces no-win situations in the tight sectarian geography of Belfast, with its patchwork of rival districts. Most trouble occurs in the evening as Orangemen march back to their lodges on major Belfast roads.

The Ardoyne clashes typically have persisted for two or three nights and involved the burning of hijacked vehicles, the hurling of homemade grenades and bursts of gunfire from IRA members. More than 250 police officers have been injured there in Twelfth-inspired violence since 2009.

The recurring conflict demonstrates how IRA splinter groups remain active despite the 2005 decision of most IRA members to disarm and officially abandon their 1970-1997 campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom.

This year for the first time, the Parades Commission has ordered Orangemen to avoid the main road beside Ardoyne. But the Orangemen have no logical alternative route to their lodge in a nearby district, and Protestants are threatening to stand their ground until police let them through.

Orange leaders dismissed concerns that their plan for late-night standoffs with police could easily spiral out of control. "The Parades Commission has created this crisis," said the Orange Order's chaplain, Mervyn Gibson.

Inmates riot, escape, set fire to Indonesia prison

July 12, 2013

MEDAN, Indonesia (AP) — Authorities were searching for scores of inmates, including terrorists, who escaped a crowded Indonesian prison that was still burning Friday after prisoners set fires and started a deadly riot at the facility in the nation's third-largest city.

Thousands of policemen and soldiers are deployed around Tanjung Gusta prison to blockade roads linking Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, to other provinces were blockaded while fire brigades were battling the fires.

About 200 prisoners escaped following the riot late Thursday in which three prison employees and two inmates were killed. Officers deployed to hunt the escaped inmates have re-arrested 55 of them and still searching for remaining inmates who still at large, said local police chief in Lt. Col. Nico Afinta. Three of 22 convicted terrorists have been recaptured.

He said the prison employees who died, including a woman, were trapped and killed in an office building that was burned by prisoners during late Thursday's riot. The riot appeared to have been triggered by a power blackout that knocked out water pumps, leaving inmates without water since Thursday morning.

Inmates forced their way out from the prison while others set offices on fire and held about 15 officers captive inside the prison, prison directorate spokesman Akbar Hadi said. None of the hostages was still being held Friday morning.

The facility holds nearly 2,600 prisoners while its normal capacity is 1,500, Hadi said. Witnesses said gunshots were heard from inside the prison, and television footage showed security forces carrying a white body bag into an ambulance from the burning prison. The fire sent raging orange flames jumping several meters (yards) into the air and a huge column of black smoke billowing over the jail.

Hadi estimated about 500 inmates were resisting calls to stop the riot and said an evacuation was planned for the safety of inmates who could become hostages as tensions showed no signs of easing. Vice Minister of justice Denny Indrayana, who is in Medan overseeing the operation, has requested evacuation of all inmates and appealed those remain escape to give themselves to the authorities.

"Legal action will be taken to chase them, and tougher action will be applied to those who refuse to surrender," Indrayana said. No further information was available on injuries.

Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips is pregnant

July 08, 2013

LONDON (AP) — Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter Zara Phillips and England rugby star Mike Tindall are expecting their first child.

The 32-year-old Phillips, an Olympian, is the daughter of Princess Anne and Capt. Mark Phillips. The child will be Anne's third grandchild, as her son, Peter Phillips, has two daughters. Zara, the 14th in line to the British throne, competes in three-day eventing, a grueling sport that combines the disciplines of dressage, show jumping and cross country. She competed in the 2012 London Olympics and won silver.

The palace made the announcement Monday, just before the expected birth of the heir to the throne. Prince William and his wife Kate are expecting their first child sometime this month. Phillips and Tindall were married in July 2011 in Edinburgh. Their baby is expected in 2014.

Portugal's president keeps coalition govt in power

July 21, 2013

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal's president has accepted a compromise reached by the coalition government that allows it to stay in power, defusing a crisis that had roiled financial markets.

In an address to the nation, President Anibal Cavaco Silva ruled out early elections, opting for "the best alternative" which is "the continuation in office of the current government." The coalition nearly split July 2 when Foreign Minister Paulo Portas, the leader of the junior party, threatened to resign.

A compromise was reached within the coalition when Portas was appointed deputy to Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, but this step required the president's agreement, which he gave late Sunday. The political dispute had raised fears that Portugal would be unable to abide by the terms of its 78 billion euros ($102 billion) international bailout.

Portugal's president considers snap election

July 08, 2013

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal's president on Monday began two days of consultations with the country's political parties before deciding whether to call a snap election.

The resignation of two key ministers last week, due to disagreements over budget austerity policies, left the center-right coalition government on the verge of collapse. Opposition parties are demanding elections two years ahead of the scheduled ballot, but President Anibal Cavaco Silva could instead give his blessing to the prime minister's proposal for a Cabinet reshuffle intended to restore harmony between the squabbling coalition partners.

The two parties in the coalition fell out over the deeply unpopular debt-cutting measures the country is required to enact in return for its 78-billion-euro ($100 billion) bailout two years ago. The junior Popular Party wants greater emphasis on economic growth policies, and its leader, Paulo Portas, quit as foreign minister after his demands were ignored. Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, a technocrat brought in to straighten out public finances, also resigned, saying his austerity policies lacked political and public support.

The dispute briefly sent European stock markets lower last week as investors feared a new flare-up in the debt crisis afflicting the 17 countries, including Portugal, that share the euro currency. The bailout program of austerity measures — which include steep tax hikes, pay and pension cuts and the reforms scrapping long-standing labor rights — is due to be completed by June 2014. It is supposed to restore investor confidence in Portugal so that Lisbon can start borrowing again on wary international bond markets, but the political spat amplified fears the Portuguese will need more financial aid beyond next year.

Klaus Regling, the head of Europe's bailout fund, urged Portugal to abide by the bailout agreement despite criticism of its terms from trade unions and business leaders. The economy is expected to shrink for the third straight year in 2013 and the jobless rate has climbed to 17.6 percent.

"Staying on the course of reform is absolutely the key to regain market access and credibility," Regling said in an interview with Japan's Nikkei economic daily published Monday. The government reduced the budget deficit to 6.4 percent last year from 10.1 percent in 2010.

"It would be a real shame if Portugal stopped this process now, having already put so much effort and hardship into this adjustment," Regling said. As head of state, Portugal's president has no direct hand in running the country, which is the job of the government, but he helps to ensure political stability. He can dissolve Parliament and call elections if he believes the government's credibility is damaged.

Cavaco Silva, the president, was due to meet with the governor of the Bank of Portugal, as well as the five parties that have seats in Parliament. Under the solution presented by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, Popular Party leader Portas would become deputy prime minister and be placed in charge of negotiations with Portugal's bailout creditors — the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and other EU countries.

But the creditors want further cuts in expenditure and Portas' appointment could put Portugal on a collision course with them. "We know that fiscal consolidation was and still is unavoidable," ECB President Mario Draghi said Monday of Europe's austerity programs.

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Portugal PM gives details of coalition-saving pact

July 07, 2013

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal's prime minister says he has appointed his coalition partner Paulo Portas as his deputy.

Pedro Passos Coelho says the appointment of Portas, who resigned as country's foreign minister last week, patches-up a political rift that had caused turmoil on financial markets. The deal is still to be approved by President Anibal Cavaco Silva.

Portas' resignation precipitated a crisis that rocked European markets as the government teetered on the verge of collapse in a dispute over austerity measures. Passos Coelho said late Saturday that Portas was given "responsibility to coordinate economic policies." Portugal received a 78 billion euro ($102 billion) sovereign bailout in 2011.

Malala celebrates 16th birthday with UN address

July 12, 2013

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Malala Yousafzai celebrated her 16th birthday on the world stage at the United Nations, defiantly telling Taliban extremists who tried to end her campaign for girls' education in Pakistan with a bullet that the attack gave her new courage and demanding that world leaders provide free education to all children.

Malala was invited Friday to give her first public speech since she was shot in the head on her way back from school in Pakistan's Swat Valley last October. She addressed nearly 1,000 young leaders from over 100 countries at the U.N.'s first Youth Assembly — and she had a message for them too.

"Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons," Malala urged. "One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first."

The U.N. had declared July 12 — her 16th birthday — "Malala Day." But she insisted it was "the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights." The Taliban, which has long opposed educating girls in Pakistan as well as neighboring Afghanistan, said it targeted Malala because she was campaigning for girls to go to school and promoted "Western thinking."

In what some observers saw as another sign of defiance, Malala said the white shawl she was wearing belonged to Pakistan's first woman prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in December 2007 when she returned to run in elections.

Malala recalled the Oct. 9 day when she was shot on the left side of her forehead, and her friends were shot as well. She insisted she was just one of thousands of victims of the Taliban. "They thought that the bullets would silence us," she said. "But they failed. And then, out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born."

Malala began her speech with a traditional Muslim prayer and later accused terrorists of "misusing the name of Islam and Pashtun society for their own personal benefits." She wore a traditional pink patterned South Asian dress and pants called a shalwar kameez and a matching head scarf.

Malala said she learned to "be peaceful and love everyone" from Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi and other global advocates of non-violence; from the compassion of religious figures Mohammad, Jesus Christ and Buddha; from the legacy of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who led Pakistan to independence in 1947.

"I'm not against anyone, neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban, or any other terrorist group," she said. "I'm here to speak about the right of education for every child."

"I want education for the sons and daughters of all the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hands and he stands in front of me. I would not shoot him," she said.

Malala said her main focus was on the education of girls and the rights of women "because they are suffering the most." "We cannot succeed when half of us are held back," she said, urging all communities to be tolerant and reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect, religion or gender.

A report by UNESCO and Save the Children issued just before Malala's speech said 57 million youngsters were out of school in 2011, down from 60 million in 2008. But it said the number living in conflict zones rose to 28.5 million in 2011 and more than half were girls.

Malala said extremists kill students, especially girls, and destroy schools because they are afraid of the power of education and the power of women, "and they are afraid of change, afraid of the equality that we will bring into our society."

She also decried the fact that wars, child labor and child marriage are preventing boys, and especially girls, from going to school. Malala received several standing ovations and everyone joined in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday." In U.N. corridors, her speech got rave reviews with some diplomats and observers predicting a future political career.

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown, the U.N. special envoy for global education who helped organize the assembly, called Malala "the most courageous girl in the world." She was airlifted to Britain for treatment and returned to school in Birmingham, where her family now lives, in March.

He said she was doing exactly what the Taliban didn't want her to do, and announced that 4 million people had signed an online petition calling for education for everyone. One of the main U.N. goals set by world leaders at a summit in 2000 is to ensure that every child in the world gets a primary education by the end of 2015.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged stepped-up efforts to get 57 million youngsters into school in the next 900 days. He said it won't be easy given the first decline in international aid for basic education in a decade and recent attacks on students and schools in Nigeria, Pakistan and elsewhere.

"No child should have to die for going to school," Ban said. "Nowhere should teachers fear to teach or children fear to learn. Together, we can change this picture. ... And together let us follow the lead of this brave young girl, Malala. Let us put education first."

Egypt forms committee to amend constitution

July 20, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's interim president selected a team of legal experts Saturday to rewrite controversial portions of the Islamist-drafted constitution, as the military-backed leadership moved quickly to try to capitalize on the coup that ousted the country's first freely elected leader.

While supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi still protest in the streets, Egypt's new prime minister called for consensus and participation of all political groups. But Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group officially has refused to negotiate with the new government, saying they are open for talks only after he is reinstated.

The persistent protest and clashes, however, continue to rock hope for stability in the country. Moves to amend the constitution are the latest push by the country's new leadership to move ahead with a military-backed timetable for a return to democratic rule to Egypt. The drafting of Egypt's constitution was one of the most divisive issues that came to characterize Morsi's first and only year in office.

In his decree Saturday, interim President Adly Mansour appointed the 10-member committee of judges and law professors that will propose amendments to the constitution. They have 30 days to suggest amendments. A second committee, comprised of 50 public figures including politicians, unionists and religious figures, then will have 60 days to review those amendments.

After that, citizens will vote on the proposed amendments in a referendum, according to the military-backed timetable. Parliamentary elections are to follow. In an interview with Egyptian state television aired Saturday night, Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said it is vital that Islamists take part in the political process, though none of Morsi's supporters are in the new Cabinet he leads.

"We cannot write a constitution when the country is divided. The country needs consensus," he said. "It is important we return to a country of laws." The Brotherhood say the only legitimate constitution is the one approved in a nationwide vote and ratified by Morsi in December. The military suspended the constitution after the July 3 coup.

El-Beblawi also denied that the country's army chief, Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, was pulling the strings from behind the scenes, saying he only spoke to the interim president regarding the formation of Cabinet.

Liberals twice walked out of committees drafting the constitution under Morsi, complaining that the Brotherhood and its allies dominated the process and stifled their suggestions. Protests over the constitution and the direction of the country turned deadly after Morsi issued temporary decrees in late November that put himself and the drafting committee above judicial oversight. The charter was then finalized in a rushed overnight session and passed in a referendum.

Unlike the previous drafting committee under Morsi, at least 20 percent of the second committee is to be represented by young Egyptians who helped galvanize street movements and women. Mohammed Abdel-Aziz, a leading figure in the Tamarod petition drive that mobilized the massive street protests that led to Morsi's ouster, said his group has launched a new initiative to collect suggestions from Egyptians on the constitution.

"We want to reach a constitution that is representative of the people's will," Abdel-Aziz told The Associated Press. He declined to comment on which articles the group wants amended. Meanwhile Saturday, a security official said unidentified assailants threw a bomb at a police station in the governorate of Ismailiya, between Cairo and the volatile northern region of the Sinai Peninsula. Part of the building and a police vehicle were damaged, but no injuries were reported, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

Clashes between protesters and security forces have erupted into violence several times since Morsi's ouster, killing more than 60 people. The most recent incident occurred Friday night in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura when unidentified assailants opened fire at a Brotherhood-led march, sparking a melee that killed three female protesters, authorities said.

The Brotherhood said two were killed by gunshot and one died after suffocating on tear gas. Medical officials said the protesters' bodies were examined Saturday. The prime minister and Vice President Mohammed ElBaradei condemned the incident in separate posts on Twitter.

The Brotherhood said the killings "shed light on the bloody nature of dictatorship and the police state under a military coup." Authorities are clamping down on the group, with eight top Islamist figures are under arrest. Prosecutors issued another arrest warrant Saturday for the Brotherhood's top figure, Mohammed Badie, and four others. The latest warrants accused them of inciting violence with police that led to the deaths of seven pro-Morsi supporters in Cairo this week.

Morsi has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed military facility since his ouster. He has not been charged with any crime. The Brotherhood's television channel and others sympathetic to the group have been taken off the air. On Saturday, security officials said that police raided the Iranian Alalam TV station and arrested its manager. Authorities said the station did not have the proper permits to operate in Egypt. An employee at the station told BBC Arabic that they had applied for permits, but, as has happened with other stations in the past, authorities delayed issuing them licenses to operate.

Rights groups have criticized the clampdown and Morsi's detention, as well as the deaths of dozens of protesters in recent weeks. In another sign of the interim government's drive to move on with the transition, Jordan's King Abdullah met with the country's president, army chief and other top figures Saturday in the first visit by a head of state to Cairo since the coup. The king's visit highlighted his support of the coup that ousted the Brotherhood from power.

Additionally, Egypt's new foreign minister Nabil Fahmy said Egypt continues to support the Syrian uprising but has no intention of supporting a jihad — or holy war — in the nation. Fahmy said that "everything will be re-evaluated" regarding the country's stance toward Syria. Morsi had severed diplomatic ties with Damascus just weeks before his ouster.

Fahmy also said Cairo is also "seriously assessing" its relations with the Syrian regime's key regional backer Iran. Morsi moved to improve diplomatic ties with Tehran.

Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef and Mariam Rizk contributed to this report.

Many neighbors tire of pro-Morsi sit-in in Egypt

July 20, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — After three weeks, some local residents have started to have enough with Islamist supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi camped out outside a Cairo mosque in their neighborhood to demand he be restored to office.

Residents are complaining that the sit-in camp is blocking the roads leading to their homes, garbage has piled up on side streets and parks have been trashed. Speeches from the stage blare late into the night in the neighborhood around Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque.

At the same time, the complaints have been sucked into Egypt's bitter polarization over the military's removal of Morsi on July 3. Anti-Islamist media have taken up the residents' backlash as evidence the country has turned against the protesters, who vow to continue their street campaign.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, in turn, has sought to show it has the backing of its neighbors, announcing that residents have been bringing the camping protesters sweets and food. The protest camp also issued a statement this past week offering nearby residents "24-hour medical, electricity, plumbing or other services."

Morsi supporters have been gathering in the broad intersection in front the mosque since just before the giant protests by millions nationwide against the president that led to his ouster began on June 30.

Now they have settled in for a seemingly permanent presence on the edge of the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City. At least a thousand people camp there in tents overnight and crowds swell at times to tens of thousands for evening rallies. Throughout the day, speakers ranging from ultraconservative clerics to Brotherhood figures to people from the crowd deliver speeches from the stage to rally the audience.

"We thought they were just having a protest for the day ... we assumed they'll leave after the revolution (Morsi's fall) but they didn't and life started becoming a tragedy," Sarah Ashraf, a 25-year-old resident, told The Associated Press.

Constant noise from fireworks and the speeches is one big issue for the residents. Another is the tone of some of the speeches, with hard-liners denouncing their opponents. "On their stage, Christians are constantly being threatened and insulted; this is scaring us," said Ashraf, who is Christian. She said she has to wear long-sleeve shirts and more conservative clothing because otherwise she feels uncomfortable passing by the crowd, largely made up of ultraconservative Islamists, with men in long beards and many women veiled.

Sandbag walls have gone up at some parts. Fearing attack by opponents, the protesters have a "self-defense" contingent of young men with sticks and makeshift armor. Those entering or passing through the sit-in section must show IDs at protester checkpoints, and the tents are spread across sidewalks in front of building entrances. In nearby gardens and garages, protesters have put up structures of blocks and bricks as toilets.

"They took off the paving stones from the sidewalks and used them to build a wall where they stand behind with their primitive weapons," resident Mohammed Wasfy said. "They have sticks in their hands all the day as a show of force; the youngest of them is holding a stick as long as he is," he added.

Several dozen residents held a counter-protest near the pro-Morsi encampment late Thursday, chanting "the Brotherhood is a shame on us." They held signs reading: "You are free unless you harm me." There were no frictions between the two groups. But the protesting residents issued a statement with a list of demands and gave Morsi supporters until Saturday night to carry them out. Among the demands, move the stage, clear side streets, stop using fireworks, turn speakers off, clean the area regularly and make sure no one has weapons in their crowds.

Some residents have moved out to live elsewhere temporarily. Others stick to their homes. "We've been trapped here for three weeks; my parents don't allow me out except to the supermarket under my house," Ebtihal Hazem, a 21-year-old business student, said over the telephone from her nearby home.

Nora Mohammed, a 30-year-old woman among the pro-Morsi protesters, insisted they were being good guests. "This street was full of garbage and the Brotherhood protesters came and cleared it," she said. "They have no right to complain. It's the military trucks that are making the problem and blocking some of the main roads."

The military is blocking at least two of the main roads leading into and out of the sit-in area. Residents also complain that other nearby mosques are being used by protesters for shelter, sleeping and showering. "A nearby state school was also used for shelter and cooking purposes. ... It's a usual scene to see them in pajamas with towels on their shoulders," said Karim Hazem, a 21-year-old resident.

Looming over the situation is the fear of violence — by either side. More than 50 Morsi supporters were killed by troops last week amid clashes at another sit-in not far away. Other sites have seen violence between protesters and police or local residents.

"We don't feel safe anymore," Hazem said.

Protests for Egypt's ousted leader amid tension

July 20, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — With the military beefing up security, tens of thousands took to the streets Friday in a determined push for the return to power of Egypt's ousted Islamist leader, while Mohammed Morsi's opponents staged rival rallies, raising fears of a fresh round of clashes.

In the only reported deadly violence Friday, angry residents of the delta city of Mansoura clashed with pro-Morsi protesters. Gunshots and birdshots were fired, though it was unclear by whom, security officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said a 25-year-old woman and a young girl were killed in the late night violence. A local rights activist who was at the hospital, Abdullah el-Nekeity, said three women were killed, including a 17-year-old girl, and 13 other people were injured.

El-Nekeity said a mob attacked the pro-Morsi demonstrators with dogs, gunfire birdshots and knives. The marchers fled, some hiding in residences until the police arrived, el-Nekeity said. A statement from Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood party said those killed were supporters of the ousted government and blamed hired thugs for shooting them.

The army warned it wouldn't tolerate any violence and sent fighter jets screaming over the capital and helicopters hovering over the marches. Publicizing their protests for days, Morsi's supporters vowed Friday would be decisive in their campaign to try to reverse the military coup that removed the country's first democratically elected president after a year in office, following massive protests against him.

Unlike other demonstrations held in the evening after breaking the daylong Ramadan fast, the pro-Morsi rallies took place throughout the day. Organized by the Muslim Brotherhood party and dubbed "Breaking the Coup," they included marches in Cairo's streets, outside military installations and in other cities, including Alexandria and several Nile Delta provinces.

The rival gatherings came just days after a new interim Cabinet was sworn in that includes women, Christians and members of a liberal coalition opposed to Morsi, but no Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood has refused to take part in talks with the interim leadership.

The country has been deeply polarized since the ouster of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, following massive rallies. The divisions only deepened over the July 3 military coup supported by millions who accused Morsi of abusing his power and giving too much influence to his Muslim Brotherhood group.

Friday's rallies coincided with the 10th day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which Egyptians celebrate as the day their armed forces crossed the Suez Canal in the 1973 war with Israel. The surprise assault led to the return of the Sinai Peninsula, which had been occupied by Israel.

The occasion was a chance for the rival camps to focus on the military, which was instrumental in removing Morsi. At pro-Morsi gatherings, protesters extolled the virtue of the armed forces but drew a distinction with its leadership, which they accused of treason for turning against Morsi.

Waving Egyptian flags and pictures of the ousted leader, they chanted slogans against army chief Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi. "El-Sissi is a traitor!" they shouted. "Morsi is our president!" Organizers played Morsi's old speeches, referring to him as the nation's leader and the supreme commander of the armed forces.

"The problems of the first years could have been solved by dialogue, but the opposition always refused," said 28-year-old Osama Youssef, who traveled to Cairo from the eastern province of Sharqiya to show his support for Morsi. "The opposition didn't succeed in getting power through constitutional measures, so it chose to take power by staging a military coup."

Sayed el-Banna, a 45-year-old Brotherhood member who came to Cairo from the Delta province of al-Sharqia, said it was important to have many people in the streets. "It is to send a message to those in the army who disagree with el-Sissi to stand with us and support us," he said.

Meanwhile, several thousand anti-Morsi protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square and outside two presidential palaces to celebrate their gains. "The people and the army and the police together against terrorism," declared a banner stung across a stage set up at the presidential palace.

Army choppers flying overhead dropped gift coupons and Egyptian flags on the gathering in Tahrir Square and a police choir performed nationalist songs in a party that lasted late into the night. The presence in the streets of the rival sides had raised fears of clashes, and military and police were deployed heavily in areas where the two crowds might collide. In one incident, near the presidential palace, security forces lobbed tear gas at an approaching march by Morsi supporters to prevent it from reaching an area where anti-Morsi demonstrators were holding their own rally.

Only minor incidents of violence were reported in the capital. Pro-Morsi supporters and opponents shouted at one another after Friday prayers in the main Al-Azhar Mosque and police detained six Islamist protesters for throwing rocks. Separately, a man was stabbed and hospitalized when a crowd of the deposed president's supporters questioned his identity and found out he was a policeman in civilian clothing.

In the Sinai peninsula, where militants long active in the area have intensified their attacks against security forces following Morsi's ouster, two civilians were killed when armed militants fired rockets at a military checkpoint, but hit a residence nearby.

In a clear attempt to widen their base of support, Brotherhood members appealed to people join their rally, insisting the coup was about to be reversed. "To those hesitating, wake up, the time for the end of the coup is nearing," senior Brotherhood leader Essam el-Erian wrote in a posting on his Facebook page.

Yasser Meshren, a Brotherhood supporter who came to Cairo from the southern province of Bani Sueif, accused the military of tricking the people by overseeing the elections only to then remove Morsi, disband the country's interim parliament and suspend the constitution, which was approved in a referendum.

"You stole my mother and my sister's voice," Meshren said of the military leadership. During their marches, the protesters made a concerted effort to distinguish between the leaders of the military and the troops. At one point, a group of pro-Morsi supporters approached a military checkpoint offering them flowers.

Police and military troops and armored vehicles were deployed heavily in Cairo around security and military installations, court houses, and the capital's entrances. Fighter jets flew over the protesters and military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali issued a stern warning on Facebook, telling civilians not to pose as military personnel or approach military installations or troops, saying anyone doing so risked death.

The military also dropped flyers warning against violence as a crowd of some 400 pro-Morsi protesters marched through northern Sinai's main city of el-Arish. The flyers urged people to protect the Sinai Peninsula from "terrorists" and provided two numbers for people to call to report suspicious behavior.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood said seven leaders of its parent group, including the former speaker of the parliament and an ultraconservative Salafi preacher, were transported to a heavily guarded prison, a move the group said was illegal because the men have not yet been charged. They have been accused, among other things, of inciting violence.

The ousted president, who has been replaced by interim leader Adly Mansour, has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed military facility since his ouster. He has not been charged with any crimes. The Brotherhood's TV channel has been taken off the air along with other Islamic channels seen as sympathetic to the group. Al-Jazeera's Egypt affiliate was raided by security forces, and on Friday, the channel's signal, along with its flagship English and Arabic news channels, were intermittently interrupted. The reasons for the disruptions were not clear.

Pro-Morsi protester Mostafa Fathi, a 33-year-old accountant, said he viewed Morsi's ouster and the closure of the TV channels as signs the country was targeting Islamists, as it did during Mubarak's near three-decade-long rule.

"We don't want to go back to a police state or a state of injustice."

Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy contributed to this report.

New Aussie PM hopes for 'kinder, gentler' politics

June 27, 2013

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Kevin Rudd has wrenched back the job of Australian prime minister from the woman who had maneuvered him out three years ago, possibly just in time to soften a crushing defeat that his party likely faces in upcoming elections.

He was sworn in Thursday and urged fellow lawmakers to be "a little kinder and gentler" toward each other following the internal coup that ousted Julia Gillard, the country's first woman prime minister.

Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat, forced Gillard out Wednesday in nearly the same way she ousted him in 2010. Each faced a party leadership vote in the face of a revolt from Labor Party lawmakers, but while Rudd did not contest Gillard's earlier challenge, she went ahead with a vote that she lost 57-45.

Gillard tendered her resignation Wednesday night. In a brief statement to Parliament two hours after he was sworn in as national leader, Rudd praised Gillard's "major reforms" on issues such as industrial law and school literacy testing, as well "her great work as a standard bearer for women."

Rudd's ouster had created a rift in the Labor Party and endless infighting. He had tried twice previously to oust Gillard, last year and in February. Many took the fact that he never posed for a Parliament House portrait, as other former prime ministers had done, as a sign that he never gave up on returning.

"As we all know in this place, political life is a very hard life; a very hard life indeed," Rudd told Parliament. "Let us try — just try — to be a little kinder and gentler with each other in the further deliberations of this Parliament," he added.

Markets reacted calmly to the change in leadership, which is not expected to affect Australia's economy or its strong dollar. Amid global financial instability and after years of growth fueled largely by a mining boom, the nation's economy has cooled.

Rudd's way back to leadership was paved with the Labor Party's dismal opinion polling under Gillard, ahead of elections she had set for Sept. 14 but that Rudd could schedule as early as Aug. 3. Australians favor Rudd over Gillard, and while the conservative opposition is still favored to win the next election, Rudd's leadership could help avoid a landslide defeat.

Rudd had warned that Labor was facing its worst election defeat under Gillard's leadership in the 111-year history of the Australian federation. Gillard lacked Rudd's charisma, and although many Labor lawmakers preferred her style, her deepening unpopularity among voters compelled a majority to seek a change.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott demanded an explanation from Rudd of why Gillard was deposed with elections looming. Abbott also called for an election date to be confirmed. "Politics is a tough business and sometimes it is far more brutal than it needs to be," Abbott said.

"This is a fraught moment in the life of our nation. A prime minister has been dragged down; her replacement owes the Australian people and the Australian Parliament an explanation," he added. Rudd's office could not immediately confirm whether Rudd would replace Gillard in a visit to Indonesia that had been scheduled for next week.

Governor-General Quentin Bryce commissioned Rudd as prime minister on Thursday, what is likely to be Parliament's last day before elections. Anthony Albanese was sworn in as deputy prime minister and Chris Bowen was sworn in as treasurer during the same ceremony. Rudd has yet to say when he will announce his complete Cabinet after seven ministers resigned following Gillard's ouster.

Rudd faces a potential no-confidence vote in Parliament. He probably would survive it, but a loss could trigger an election as early as Aug. 3. Bryce revealed that she took late-night legal advice on whether she should swear in Rudd. A minority government such as Gillard led has not been seen in Australian federal politics since World War II, and Labor's leadership change raised unique constitutional questions.

While Rudd has the support of his party, Labor has just 71 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives. Gillard was able to govern with support from some independents and the minor Greens party. They are not obligated to support Rudd, though he did get the backing of at least two independent lawmakers who had not supported Gillard.

Rudd's statement fulfilled a condition set by Bryce that he quickly notify Parliament of his appointment so that lawmakers had an opportunity to take action. Gillard said after her loss Wednesday that she was proud of her government's achievements, including the introduction of an unpopular carbon tax paid by the biggest industrial polluters. She had been dogged by her pre-election promise never to introduce such a tax.

Gillard's gender was a focus several times during her tenure, and she made international headlines for calling Abbott a misogynist. She said Wednesday that because of her tenure, "It will be easier for the next woman and the woman after that and the woman after that. And I'm proud of that."