WASHINGTON,(AFP) - The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the US economy grew only 1.8 percent in the first quarter, a sharp revision from the previous estimate of 2.4 percent.The department said personal spending was lower than previously estimated, and that both exports and imports actually declined in the January-March period.

LONDON,  (AFP) -- Injured second seed Victoria Azarenka was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon on Wednesday just minutes before she was due on Centre Court.The Australian Open champion suffered a right knee injury in her first round win over Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal.Azarenka had been due to play Italy's Flavia Pennetta first up on Centre Court for a place in the third round.

BERLIN (AP) -- Berlin is celebrating the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's famed "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech -- a pledge of support to the divided city on the Cold War's front line that still resonates in a much-changed world.Kennedy made his speech during a several-hour trip to West Berlin on June 26, 1963 _ nearly two years after communist East Germany cut the city in half by building the Berlin Wall and amid concern that America might abandon the Cold War outpost.Egon Bahr, th

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was ousted as Labor Party leader Wednesday by her predecessor, Kevin Rudd, in a vote of party lawmakers hoping to avoid a huge defeat in upcoming elections.The ballot took place three years and two days after Gillard ousted Rudd in a similar internal government showdown to become the country's first female prime minister. She lacked Rudd's charisma, and although many Labor lawmakers preferred her style, her deepening unpopularit

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - US President Barack Obama heads to Africa on a long awaited first major tour Wednesday at a poignant moment, just as the world prepares to bid a reluctant farewell to Nelson Mandela. The possibility that the critically ill anti-apartheid icon could fade away within days has sparked uncertainty about Obama's itinerary, which is due to take him to Africa's francophone west, democratic east and its southern tip.Plans to visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania over the next week

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's Treasury chief is set to announce billions of pounds in spending cuts as the cash-strapped nation tries to make ends meet.George Osborne had hoped that Britain could move past austerity programs by the time he released Wednesday's national spending review, which sets out state spending limits for 2015-2016. In his last review, in 2010, he laid out plans to cut the deficit by 2015 _ in time for the next election.However, Britain's growth rate remains an anemic 0.3 percent

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) --  Iran burned at least 100 tons of illicit drugs Wednesday, some in a Tehran ceremony attended by officials and foreign dignitaries, to highlight what it says are its unsupported efforts to stem the flow of narcotics across its territory to Europe.Officials at the burning, an annual occurrence marking the UN International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, accused the West of failing to back it in interdicting drug traffic that they said was driven by European ad

A gas leak at a Seoul university Wednesday caused for more than 2,000 people to be evacuated, according to police investigators.  No casualties were reported.The leak was reported just past 4:20 p.m. at Sejong University in eastern Seoul, investigators said.About 1.5 kilograms of liquid boron tribromide, known as BBr3, had leaked in the form of a gas after being exposed to air during an experiment with solar panels in a laboratory, they said. BBr3 is colorless but has a pungent odor and can caus

PHOENIX (AP) -- A mother of seven from Arizona is jailed in Mexico on allegations that she tried to smuggle nearly 12 pounds (5.4 kilograms) of marijuana into the U.S. on a passenger bus -- claims her family members say are false.A court hearing was held Tuesday in Nogales, Sonora, for 42-year-old Yanira Maldonado of the Phoenix suburb of Goodyear.She and her husband said they were returning from the funeral of her aunt last Wednesday when the bus they were on was stopped at a military checkpoin

LONDON,  (AFP) - Britain was working to move up to 90 suspected insurgents being held at its main base in Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said Wednesday, as lawyers claimed they were possibly being detained unlawfully. British lawyers representing eight of the men being held at Camp Bastion in the southern province of Helmand claim their cases could amount to internment.Hammond said the detainees in the "temporary holding facility" included people suspected of attacking British tro

GENEVA, (AFP) - Governments worldwide must ban all forms of tobacco marketing, not just billboards and TV ads, as companies find new ways to tap the market, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.Douglas Bettcher, head of the WHO's non-communicable disease division, said tougher measures were needed to rein in tobacco use, which claims six million lives a year."This is an industry that sells a product that kills up to half their consumers," but companies are still able to draw in a new gen

TEHRAN (AP) -- Iran's culture minister is seeking to tighten rules to supervise visiting foreign journalists.A Wednesday report by the semi-official Mehr news agency quotes Mohammad Hosseini as saying tighter measures are being sought after an Israeli journalist reported from Tehran about the 2009 presidential election for a European news outlet.Postelection turmoil in 2009 led the government to restrict access for visiting foreign journalists, many of whom left the country ahead of schedule.Hos

PHNOM PENH (AP) -- Police in Cambodia's capital have used water cannons to disperse about 60 people who were protesting their evictions from land four years ago to make way for a luxury real estate development.Human rights activist Am Sam Ath Licadho says at least two women -- one 72 years old -- were hurt by the high-pressure water as they protested Wednesday on a street in front of city hall.The protesters were mostly women who were evicted from Phnom Penh's Boueng Kak lake area. They are dema

WASHINGTON, (AFP) -- China's Shuanghui International has agreed to buy US pork icon Smithfield Foods in a deal valuing Smithfield at $7.1 billion, the two companies said Wednesday.Hongkong-based Shuanghui, which controls China's largest food-processing company, will pay $4.7 billion in cash and assume the debt of Smithfield, one of the largest meat processors in the United States.Shuanghui will pay $34 for the outstanding shares of Smithfield, a premium of 31 percent over Tuesday's closing price

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican took another step Wednesday to show greater financial transparency by publishing the first annual report from its financial watchdog agency and announcing new regulations to fight money laundering and terror financing.The report from the Financial Intelligence Authority showed the agency received six internal reports on suspicious transactions in 2012, up from one a year earlier, and that two were sent onto Vatican prosecutors for investigation.But the 10-page re

DUBAI (AFP) -- Thousands of mainly Asian expatriate workers in the United Arab Emirates have ended a strike they began at the weekend in a rare stoppage aimed at improving their conditions, their employer said Wednesday."Arabtec confirms that all workers returned to work with no impact on any of its projects," the Dubai-based company, which is constructing the Louvre Abu Dhabi, said in a statement."This unwarranted stoppage had been instigated by a minority group who will be held accountable for

LONDON, (AFP) -- Up to 600 Afghan interpreters who served with British forces in Afghanistan will be offered the chance of a new life in Britain after a government U-turn, it was revealed on Wednesday.Prime Minister David Cameron had initially decided to discourage the interpreters from settling in Britain for fear of the message it would send out about the stability of Afghanistan as foreign forces pull out.Many of the Afghans say their lives are in danger from the Taliban due to their work wit

TEHRAN (AP) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that a decision by election overseers to disqualify his top aide from next month's presidential race is an act of "oppression'' and that he will take the case to the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.His comments were posted on his website, president.ir, the day after the Guardian Council removed Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei from the final candidate list.Despite Ahmadinejad's pledge to appeal, it is unlikely that the Gu

SHANGHAI, (AFP) -- Calligraphy by Japanese porn star Sola Aoi has sparked a culture war in China, where she has a huge fan base, with purists dismissing the work as "unskilled" after it was reportedly auctioned for $95,000.Eight Chinese characters the actress wrote with brush and ink at a theme park in the eastern city of Ningbo were sold earlier this month, the Liberation Daily newspaper said Wednesday, without identifying the auction house or buyer."The style of calligraphy is childish, unskil

SYDNEY (AP) -- David Warner has pleaded guilty and been fined $5,750 for breaching Cricket Australia's code of conduct after his expletive-laden outbursts against two journalists on Twitter.Cricket Australia issued a statement late Wednesday saying its code of conduct commissioner, Gordon Lewis, imposed the maximum financial penalty for a first offense under Rule 6 of the code relating to "unbecoming behavior." "In hindsight, clearly I let my frustrations get the better of me and posted some ina