Obama pays visit, respects in India

NEW DELHI

- President Obama was greeted in India yesterday with an elaborate welcome at the country's sprawling presidential palace, then he solemnly laid a wreath at a memorial honoring the father of India's independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi.

The president arrived in New Delhi under hazy skies yesterday morning. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was waiting for Obama at the steps of Air Force One, and the two men shared a hug, underscoring the warm relationship they have formed in the short time Modi has been in office.

The president and prime minister spent much of yesterday holding talks on climate change, defense and economic ties. Today, Obama will be the guest of honor at India's Republic Day festivities, making him the first U.S. president to attend the anniversary of the enactment of the country's democratic constitution.

ATHENS, Greece

- A radical left-wing party vowing to end Greece's painful austerity program won a historic victory in yesterday's parliamentary elections, setting up a showdown with the country's international creditors that could shake the eurozone.

Alexis Tsipras, leader of the communist-rooted Syriza Party, immediately promised to end the "five years of humiliation and pain" that Greece has endured since an international bailout saved it from bankruptcy in 2010.

It remained to be seen whether Syriza had enough seats to govern outright or would have to seek support from other parties. That might not become clear until this morning or later, when all the votes are counted.

The prospect of an anti-bailout government coming to power in Greece has sent jitters through the financial world, reviving fears of a Greek bankruptcy that could reverberate across the eurozone.

Tsipras won on promises to demand debt forgiveness and renegotiate the terms of Greece's $270 billion bailout, which has kept the debt-ridden country afloat since mid-2010.

TOKYO

- From the prime minister to ordinary people, Japan responded with shock yesterday at a video purportedly showing that one of two Japanese hostages of the extremist Islamic State group had been killed.

With national attention focusing on efforts to save the other hostage, journalist Kenji Goto, 47, some also criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's drive for a more assertive Japan as responsible for the hostage crisis.

A somber Abe appeared on Japanese public broadcaster NHK early yesterday demanding the militants release Goto unharmed. He said that the latest video was likely authentic, although he added that the government was still reviewing it. He offered condolences to the family and friends of Haruna Yukawa, 42, an adventurer taken hostage in Syria last year.

Abe declined to comment on the message in the video, which demanded a prisoner exchange for Goto. He said only that the government was still working on the situation, and reiterated that Japan condemns terrorism.

"I am left speechless," he said. "We strongly and totally criticize such acts."

KIEV, Ukraine

- Indiscriminate rocket fire slammed into a market, schools, homes and shops Saturday in Ukraine's southeastern city of Mariupol, killing at least 30 people, authorities said. The Ukrainian president called the blitz a terrorist attack, and NATO and the U.S. demanded that Russia stop supporting the rebels.

Ukrainian officials rushed to defend the strategically important port on the Sea of Azov, beefing up military positions with more equipment and sending in more forces.

The separatists' top leader declared that an offensive against Mariupol had begun - then later toned down his threats as the scale of the civilian casualties became clear.

President Petro Poroshenko held an emergency meeting of his military officials and cut short a trip to Saudi Arabia to coordinate the government's response.

DES MOINES, Iowa

- The robust Christian right in early-voting Iowa plays an outsize role in helping determine the Republican presidential nominee, a political reality not lost on the parade of would-be 2016 candidates trying to draw attention at a Saturday gathering of social conservatives.

Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, former Govs. Rick Perry of Texas and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and many others turned the Iowa Freedom Forum into the unofficial launch of the next campaign for the Iowa caucuses. More than 1,000 religious conservatives met at a refurbished theater to hear them pitch their policies and their values.

Christie may have had the most to gain - or lose - from appearing at the forum. Considered a moderate in some GOP circles and a party-establishment choice in others, he tried to connect with grass-roots conservative activists by assuring them that trust is more important than total agreement

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- Associated Press