Mohamed Nizar says he and his fellow rebels have the will, the fervor and the money to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The brother of blind activist Chen Guangcheng has fled his village in northeastern China, evading a security clampdown to seek help from lawyers for his son who has been detained in a case that has become a rallying point among rights activists. Chen Guangfu, the eldest brother of Chen Guangcheng, told Reuters that he walked out of his home in Shandong province at 3 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Tuesday, eluding the increased number of sentries near his village by avoiding roads and running through fields. He arrived in Beijing on Wednesday evening after a six-hour journey by car. ...

KABUL (Reuters) - With most foreign combat troops set to withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014, Iran is using the media in the war-ravaged nation to gain influence, a worrying issue for Washington. Nearly a third of Afghanistan's media is backed by Iran, either financially or through providing content, Afghan officials and media groups say. "What Iran wants, what they are striving at, is a power base in Afghanistan that can counter American influence," said a senior government official, who like others for this report, spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. ...

Australian cricketer Luke Pomersbach is to be cleared of accusations that he molested a woman and beat up her fiance during the IPL tournament in India, his lawyer said on Thursday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factories took a hit in May as export orders fell sharply, a private sector survey showed on Thursday, suggesting surprise weakness in April's hard economic data persists even as policymakers seek to shore up growth. The HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index, the earliest indicator of China's industrial activity, retreated to 48.7 in May from a final reading of 49.3 in April. It marked the seventh consecutive month that the HSBC PMI has been below 50, indicating contraction. ...

Egyptians say they want their next leader to be honorable, smart, a knight, a man with a heart, a military man, a religious man, one who goes down and meets with the people. What they are really looking for is a superman.

There are smoke-free bars, smoke-free parks, even smoke-free college campuses. But a smoke-free country?

A Roman Catholic church official says Philadelphia's former archbishop ordered staff to keep alleged victims of priest sexual abuse in the dark about other accusers.

Harvard alumni attending their 50th class reunion this week are getting updates on classmates — including Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.