Latest Cold War Stories

By Greg Brosnan CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday backed the favorite to win Nicaragua's November presidential election, days after Washington warned the country not to vote for its former cold war foe. "I shouldn't say I hope you win because they will accuse me of sticking my nose into Nicaraguan internal affairs," Chavez quipped to former Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega, who joined him on his weekly television show. "But I hope you win." The...

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean civilian, believed to be a young schoolboy, was killed on Friday when a U.S. military armored vehicle being transported by train struck a high-voltage power line, officials said. The issue of the U.S. military presence in South Korea is highly sensitive. Months of countrywide protests erupted after an American armored vehicle crushed two schoolgirls in 2002. After that accident, which analysts say played a big part in liberal Roh Moo-hyun's presidential...

By Alistair ScruttonLEON, Nicaragua (Reuters) - After years of setbacks, many Nicaraguans from Leon, the cradle of the 1979 Sandinista revolution, believe their aging former guerrilla leaders could soon return to power in elections that could also prove a diplomatic nightmare for Washington."We need a change. It's been bad, bad, bad," said 60-year-old war Sandinista war veteran Daniel Sauro, referring to 16 years of pro-Washington governments that took power after Sandinista leader...

By Bill Trott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Caspar Weinberger, who oversaw a massive U.S. military buildup as Ronald Reagan's defense secretary, died on Tuesday at age 88. Weinberger, who was a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, had been suffering from pneumonia and high fever for about a week. He died at 5 a.m. (1000 GMT) in the intensive-care unit of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, about 40 miles from his home in Mount Desert, said his son,...

Please read in 20th paragraph ... Forbes Inc. ... instead of ... Forbes magazine ... By Bill Trott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Caspar Weinberger, who oversaw a massive U.S. military buildup as Ronald Reagan's defense secretary, died on Tuesday at age 88. Weinberger, who was a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, had been suffering from pneumonia and high fever for about a week. His son, Caspar Weinberger Jr., said his father died at 5 a.m. (1000 GMT)...

By Bill TrottWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Caspar Weinberger, who oversaw a massive U.S. military buildup as Ronald Reagan's defense secretary, died on Tuesday at age 88.Weinberger, who was a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, had been suffering from pneumonia and high fever for about a week.His son, Caspar Weinberger Jr., said his father died at 5 a.m. (1000 GMT) in the intensive-care unit of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, about 40 miles from his...

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean and U.S. troops will launch week-long joint exercises on Saturday to test whether they are ready to be mobilized if there was an armed conflict on the Korean peninsula, military officers said. The annual drills have angered North Korea in past years, and the communist state, which says the drills are a prelude to a U.S. invasion, has again stepped up anti-U.S. rhetoric. The participation of the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has allowed nearly 100 visiting South Koreans to return home after delaying their departure over objections to news reports that it had abducted people, officials said on Thursday. The South Koreans, several of them in their 80s and 90s, met long-lost relatives from the communist North at a mountain resort in a reunion that started on Monday. They were supposed to leave on Wednesday afternoon, but North Korea delayed their departure for about 10 hours,...

By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - Yoo Chang-sik gazes into a monitor in the North Korean capital but fails to recognize his sister on a video link from the South's capital, just 220 km (137 miles) away but separated by a fortified border for more than 50 years. Yoo, 78, and his sister, Hyang-sik, 65, were one of 80 families picked to be reunited via a video link over two days starting on Monday. The families were split in the turmoil when the two countries sealed their borders at the end...

By Carol Giacomo WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush heads to India with grand visions of partnership with the world's biggest democracy, but some experts say such high expectations could lead to disappointment or even a backlash. In a preview of next week's visit, Bush reaffirmed his vision of a "strategic partnership" that includes abetting India's rise as a global power through cooperation on economic, energy, political, cultural and health issues. But Dan Blumenthal, a...