Greek leftist brings message to Europe: "Let's talk"

ATHENS (Reuters) - The charismatic Greek leftist who could determine the fate of the euro begins a tour of European capitals on Monday carrying a single message: it's time to talk. In an interview on the eve of his first visit abroad since his surprise rise in a May 6 election, Alexis Tsipras veered occasionally into the combative rhetoric that has seduced disaffected Greek youth and alarmed Brussels and Berlin. But he also stressed repeatedly that he wants negotiations to keep Greece in the euro. ...

Ruling party headed for 1st round win in Dominican election

Santo Domingo (Reuters) - Early results from presidential elections in the Dominican Republic show ruling party candidate Danilo Medina headed for victory 12 years after he lost in a landslide to opposition candidate Hipolito Mejia. With almost 75 percent of votes counted, Medina and the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) held a 4 percentage point lead (51 percent - 47 percent) over Mejia, the candidate for the opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), according to official election results. ...

Alibaba buys back 20 percent stake held by Yahoo for $7.1 billion

SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chinese Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma is buying back up to half of a 40 percent stake in his Alibaba Group from Yahoo Inc for $7.1 billion, in a deal that moves the Chinese e-commerce leader closer to a public listing. Under the agreement, Yahoo will sell half of its stake in Alibaba for at least $6.3 billion in cash and up to $800 million in new Alibaba preferred stock. ...

Analysis: China reformer sees his opportunity after Bo's fall

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - One of China's most conspicuously reform-minded leaders has stepped back into the spotlight after the nation's biggest political convulsion in a generation, positioning himself to gain from the fall of populist politician Bo Xilai. Wang Yang, leader of Guangdong province and well known for his deft handling of recent civil unrest there, is the first of three provincial-level party bosses who stand to benefit after a murder scandal snuffed out Bo's career last month. ...

APNewsBreak: 22 states join campaign finance fight

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending.

APNewsBreak: 22 states join campaign finance fight

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending.

Study: 2,000 convicted then exonerated in 23 years

More than 2,000 people who were falsely convicted of serious crimes have been exonerated in the United States in the past 23 years, according to a new archive compiled at two universities.

Romney Super PAC raises less, still tops Democrats

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Restore Our Future, an outside "Super PAC" backing Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, raised $3.9 million in April, less than half of its haul in March but still far ahead of its Democratic counterpart working to re-elect President Barack Obama. The pro-Romney "super" political action committee Restore Our Future had $8.2 million in cash on hand at the end of the latest reporting period, filings with the Federal Election Commission showed on Sunday. The pro-Obama group, Priorities USA Action, raised $1.6 million last month and had $4. ...

Ruling party headed for 1st round win in Dominican election

Santo Domingo (Reuters) - Early results in presidential elections in the Dominican Republic show ruling party candidate Danilo Medina headed for revenge 12 years after he lost in a landslide to opposition candidate Hipolito Mejia. With 30 percent of votes counted Medina, the candidate for the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), held nearly a 5 percentage point lead (51.4 percent-46.7 percent) over Mejia and the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), according to official election results. That would be enough for Medina, 60, to secure an outright first-round victory. ...

NATO shifts to help an elusive Afghanistan peace

President Barack Obama and NATO allies declared Sunday that the end of the long and unpopular Afghanistan war is in sight even as they struggled to hold their fighting force together in the face of dwindling patience and shaky unity.

Blind Chinese activist Chen rests in NYC

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng soaked up the sun in New York City on Sunday as his children played in a garden, a break in a day of meetings to arrange his studies at New York University. "(Chen) said he hadn't sat in the sun for many, many years," said Jerome Cohen, a China law expert and professor at New York University's law school, where Chen will study. "He wanted to go out in the garden ... his kids went out first and then he went out," Cohen, who has become a confidante of Chen's, told Reuters. ...

NATO to hand combat role to Afghans as it seeks way out of war

CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO will hand over the lead role in combat operations to Afghan forces across the country by mid-2013, alliance leaders said on Sunday as they charted a path out of a war that has lost public support and strained budgets in Western nations. A NATO summit in Chicago on Monday will formally endorse a U.S.-backed strategy for a gradual exit from Afghanistan, a move aimed at holding together an allied force scrambling to cope with France's decision to withdraw its troops early. ...

France's Hollande to make Eurobond proposals at EU summit

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday he would make proposals for eurobonds at an upcoming European summit as he outlines his ideas to stimulate growth and help ailing economies within the euro zone. "I will outline all growth proposals at this informal meeting on May 23," Hollande told reporters at the end of a G8 leaders meeting in Camp David. "Within this packet of proposals there will be eurobonds and I will not be alone in proposing them. I had confirmation on this at the G8. ...