World Leader | featured news

In his final address in power, outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao told China's congress Tuesday that China has seen "truly extraordinary" development in recent years and must bolster national security to defend it.

With three humble bows to the audience, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao exited the public stage in an anticlimactic end to his ten-year reign. In his final work report at the opening of the National People's Congress, nary a word was spoken about political reform, which Wen had championed in earlier speeches. Instead, he read a 100-minute statement that was dull even by the standards of the country’s soporific political theater.

Italian ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi hosted prostitution parties at his Milan villa, where he paid women with favours and cash, prosecutors at his trial say.

Secretary of State John F. Kerry scolded Turkey’s leader Friday for likening Zionism to a “crime against humanity. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comment worsened his country’s rift with Israel and further complicated the U.S. relationship with Turkey, a key Muslim ally straddling the Middle East and Europe.

Ending his unexpected round of basketball diplomacy in North Korea on Friday, ex-N.B.A. star Dennis Rodman called leader Kim Jong-un an “awesome guy” and said his father and grandfather were “great leaders.”

Park Geun-hye is sworn in as South Korea's president, making her the first woman to lead the East Asian nation.

When King Juan Carlos appeared at a recent basketball game in front of thousands of subjects, he was greeted by persistent heckling and whistling. It was an unprecedented spectacle in a nearly four-decade reign over which the monarch has basked in the nation's love and respect.

Cuban President Raul Castro today unexpectedly raised the possibility of leaving his post, saying he is old and has a right to retire. But he did not say when he might do so or if such a move was imminent.

President Hugo Chávez, who returned to Venezuela Monday after undergoing medical treatment in Cuba, continues to suffer respiratory problems in his two-year battle with cancer, the Venezuelan government said in a somber statement Thursday.

President Francois Hollande has confirmed that a French family of seven -- three adults and four children -- have been kidnapped in northern Cameroon.