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Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbors’ money, U.S. coordination

Karen DeYoung, Liz Sly — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:53:00 EST

Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials.

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Many will profit if Pakistan reopens NATO supply routes

Richard Leiby — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:17:00 EST

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — U.S. commanders in Afghanistan want to get war supplies rolling across Pakistan’s borders again. So do Pakistanis in places high and low — from officials trying to balance the nation’s budget to black marketeers who stand ready to plunder the NATO-contracted trucks and oil tankers expected to shortly resume passage into Afghanistan after nearly six months of closed border crossings.

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President Obama executive order gives Treasury authority to freeze Yemeni assets in U.S.

Karen DeYoung — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:10:00 EST

President Obama issued an executive order Wednesday giving the Treasury Department authority to freeze the U.S.-based assets of anyone who “obstructs” implementation of the administration-backed political transition in Yemen.

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India promises “some austerity” as rupee collapses

Simon Denyer — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:16:19 EST

NEW DELHI — Facing a collapse in investor confidence and a decline in the rupee to a record low against the dollar, India’s finance minister said Wednesday it was time for “some austerity” — but not time to panic.

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Merkel says she’s open to ‘stimulus’ for Greek economy

Anthony Faiola, Michael Birnbaum — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:58:38 EST

ATHENS – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that she wants to keep Greece on the common euro currency and would be open to “stimulus” that would help foster growth in the troubled European country.

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Moscow police clear occupied park

Will Englund — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:05:23 EST

MOSCOW — Police cleared a campsite occupied by political protesters in the Russian capital early Wednesday morning, despite assurances that they would wait until noon. Within hours, another gathering had begun in a small park near the Barrikadnaya metro station, named for the barricades of Russia’s 1905 revolution.

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Rebekah Brooks, former Murdoch editor, charged in phone-hacking scandal

Michael Holden, Kate Holton, Reuters — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:57:00 EST

LONDON — Rebekah Brooks, a confidante of Rupert Murdoch, was charged Tuesday with interfering with a police investigation into a phone-hacking scandal that has rocked the media tycoon’s empire and sent shock waves through the British political establishment.

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Chen Guangcheng, blind Chinese activist, calls into Hill hearing again

William Wan — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:03:00 EST

Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng called into a U.S. congressional hearing for the second time in two weeks Tuesday and said his relatives have been persecuted in retaliation for his escape from house arrest.

More world news coverage:

- India to buy less oil from Iran

- Syrian rebels get influx of arms thanks in part to U.S.

- Rebekah Brooks charged in phone-hacking scandal

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As adoption demands grow, Indian families look beyond castes and religion

Benjamin Gottlieb, Emily Frost — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:41:33 EST

NEW DELHI — On a dusty lane too narrow for a car to fit through, the Delhi Girls’ Home sits shrouded by the minarets and residential houses that litter Delhi’s outer suburb of Burari. It’s a cavernous three-story building, housing 15 young Indian girls.

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Group of Eight set to meet; France’s Francois Hollande to first visit Obama

David Nakamura, Howard Schneider — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:06:20 EST

Leaders of the world’s eight richest economies are set to gather at Camp David this weekend amid questions about Europe’s spiraling debt crisis.

But before they do, one key player, French President Francois Hollande, will stop by the White House to introduce himself to President Obama.

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