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Britain and Germany today watered down a strong European Union call for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Lebanon conflict as foreign ministers clashed in Brussels. Instead of calling for an immediate ceasefire a convoluted statement issued by the 25 member states called for "an immediate end to hostilities to be followed by a sustainable ceasefire". The move by Britain and Germany backs the stance of the United States which believes a ceasefire call should only be made if it was "sustainable". It will be also interpreted as a snub to Jacques Chirac, the French president, who has been demanding an...

WASHINGTON May 19, 2005 — The number of new people signing up for jobless benefits dropped sharply last week, offering an encouraging sign for the health of the labor market. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for unemployment insurance declined by a seasonally adjusted 20,000 to 321,000 for the week ending May 14. The decline, larger than expected, pleased economists. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week fluctuations, rose last week to 329,750, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week. Even with the rise, the level of claims still pointed to a job...

Our correspondent reports from Tbilisi on the rising tensions caused by the ex-Soviet republic's bold assertion of sovereignty GEORGIA’S leadership increased pressure on Russia to withdraw from two Soviet- era military bases yesterday by threatening to blockade them if Moscow did not agree by Sunday to speed their removal. But Russia dismissed the threat as blackmail and said it would not “stand idly by” if sanctions were imposed. Nino Burdzhanadze, the Speaker of Georgia’s parliament, said that it would ask the Government to impose sanctions, including denying visas to Russian military personnel and restricting the movements of those already in...

Presidents aren't expected to know much history, but their speechwriters are. President Bush's speech in Riga on Saturday did not measure up. It wasn't Bush who started the quarrel about whether the Soviet Union "liberated" or "occupied" Eastern Europe after 1945. It was the presidents of Lithuania and Estonia, who refused to go to Moscow for the ceremonies commemorating the Soviet defeat of Germany 60 years ago, and the presidents of Latvia and Poland, who only agreed to go with great reluctance. But Bush jumped into the argument with considerable ignorance. What he did was to condemn the Yalta agreement...

Demonstrators have taken to the streets of several Egyptian cities to protest against the prospect of a fifth term in office for President Hosni Mubarak. Hundreds of protesters were prevented from reaching the parliament building in Cairo by thousands of riot police. A similar demonstration in Alexandria was called off after security forces sealed off all routes to the site. Cairo's security chief has warned that police will no longer tolerate rallies by the Kifaya ("Enough") group. "If we are getting to the stage of getting used to violating [the rules], then the principle is that legal regulations must be...

Members of Belarussian opposition parties and movements and entrepreneurs have joined an unauthorized rally in downtown Minsk to show their support for previously arrested opposition activists and entrepreneurial movement leaders, an Interfax correspondent reported. Minsk special-operations police force head Yury Podobed has estimated the number of people rallying on Minsk's Oktyabrskaya square at from 300 to 400.