BEIJING -- China's decades-long campaign to wipe out the Falun Gong movement has failed to stifle its appeal, a lawyer for imprisoned members says. Han Zhiguang of the Beijing law firm Gongdao says Falun Gong members in China today number in the tens of millions, the London Telegraph reported Friday. "We do not know the exact number but one thing is certain: It is expanding," Han told the Telegraph. Saturday marks the tenth anniversary of a protest in ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Some Washington observers are calling U.S. President Barack Obama's projected budget cuts largely symbolic and insufficient. Critics say the reported cost-cutting measures will do little to restore fiscal responsibility and amount in savings to a fraction of 1 percent of Obama's $3.6 trillion budget. "You're cherry-picking the base of the tree on stuff that is not innovative," said Paul C. Light, a scholar of federal bureaucracy at New York University. "None of this stuff is ... [full story]

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A 30-year-old Canadian female military officer was found dead in sleeping quarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan, military officials said. The defense ministry released few details about the death of Maj. Michelle Mendes, except that she was on her second tour of duty in the NATO mission, the Canwest News Service reported from the base. The military said she died from "a non-battle injury" that did not involve enemy action. Mendes was one of 36 troops injured ... [full story]

CHICAGO -- The medical examiner in Chicago's Cook County said it could be months before they know why a teenager who was hit in the chest with a softball died. Eighth-grader Maurice Davenport, 14, was playing outfield for the recently formed Morgan Elementary team when he dove for a ball, caught it and then fell on the ball chest first, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday. Davenport died about an hour after arriving at a nearby hospital. The Cook ... [full story]

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Activists of the Romany, or Gypsy, minority in the Czech Republic said they plan countrywide protests against rising extremism and discrimination. Leaders of the minority, estimated at 300,000 members by Czech authorities, said the protests will be organized in some 15 towns and cities on Sunday, May 3, Prague Radio said Friday. The protests are coming amidst increased political tensions sparked by the last week's neo-Nazi march in the northern Czech town of ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Michelle Obama apologized Thursday to White House staffers' children for their parents' long hours, but also urged the kids to consider U.S. government service. In an appearance at a Take Our Children to Work Day event, the first lady said she and President Barack Obama appreciate the hard work the children's parents do for the country. "Sometimes you might think they work a little too hard, they could come home a little earlier," she said. ... [full story]

BEIJING -- North Korea has nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them, says International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei. Speaking in Beijing, Elbaradei told reporters, "North Korea has nuclear weapons, which is a matter of fact. I don't like to accept any country as a nuclear weapon state but we have to face reality," The Times of London reported Friday. ElBaradei said the addition of North Korea as a "fully fledged nuclear power" makes nine ... [full story]

BELGRADE, Serbia -- A Belgrade court sentenced four former Serbian policemen to jail terms from 13 to 20 years for killing 50 Albanian civilians in Kosovo in 1999, officials said. The Serbian court trying war crimes convicted the four of massacring 48 members of the Berisha family, most of them women and children aged from 1 year to 100 years, and two others, Belgrade's B92 Web site said Friday. Operating in Suva Reka, southern Kosovo, the four ... [full story]

PRINCETON, N.J. -- U.S. residents continue to support re-establishing diplomatic ties with Cuba, with 60 percent favoring the idea, a Gallup Poll indicated Friday. The new findings continue a trend since 1999 of majority support among Americans for renewing ties with Havana, the pollsters said. U.S. President Barack Obama recently relaxed some travel restrictions to the country and gave U.S. telecommunications companies the right to pursue business there. The poll also indicated that 51 percent favored ... [full story]

VIENNA -- An Arab League official told a U.N. commission in Austria Friday that an international conference under U.N. auspices should meet to define terrorism clearly. Mohammad Ridhwan Bin Khadhra, the league's advisor for legal affairs, told a meeting of the U.N. Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice that international cooperation in combating terrorism is hindered by the lack of a clear definition. Bin Khadhra said it is important to differentiate between terrorism and a people's ... [full story]