BEIJING (AFP) - Blind activist Chen Guangcheng said Thursday China had agreed to issue him a passport within 15 days, allowing him to go to the United States, after a bitter row between Beijing and Washington.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's economy in the January to March quarter grew by 1.0 percent over the previous three months, as the world's third-largest economy mounts a slow recovery.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Federal Reserve sees a quick, sharp tightening of US spending as a "sizable risk" to the US economy, minutes from a recent top-level policy meeting revealed on Wednesday.

CANNES, France (AFP) - The 65th Cannes Film Festival opened on Wednesday with a gala premiere of Wes Anderson's teen elopement fantasy "Moonrise Kingdom."

KINSHASA (AFP) - Rwandan rebels have killed at least 50 civilians in May in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said on Wednesday.