Hard-liners in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood dig in amid calls from youth for reform

Powerful Islamic movement sees leadership struggle

Civil rights leader Joseph Lowery celebrates 88th birthday with star-studded bash in Atlanta

ATLANTA — The Rev. Joseph Lowery has celebrated his 88th birthday with a little help from his friends, including soul legend Aretha Franklin and actor Samuel L. Jackson.

Myanmar’s detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi allowed to meet Western diplomats

YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s junta leader allowed detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi a rare meeting with Western diplomats Friday to discuss sanctions imposed against the military-ruled country.

Myanmar junta official holds more talks with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi

YANGON, Myanmar — Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi held talks Wednesday with a junta official, the second such meeting within a week following her call for a new era of cooperation, official sources said.

Myanmar junta official holds surprise talks with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi

YANGON, Myanmar — Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was escorted into surprise talks with a junta official Saturday, a week after writing a letter to the military leader proposing a new era of cooperation.

Myanmar court rejects pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi’s appeal of latest house arrest

YANGON, Myanmar — A Myanmar court rejected an appeal Friday by democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for her release from house arrest, another reminder that the country’s military junta treads warily when considering concessions to the opposition or improving relations with the West.

Myanmar court rejects pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi’s appeal against latest house arrest

YANGON, Myanmar — A court in military-ruled Myanmar turned aside opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest bid for freedom Friday, rejecting an appeal against her most recent sentence of house arrest, government sources said.

Detained Myanmar opposition leader Suu Kyi seeks to meet Western diplomats about sanctions

YANGON, Myanmar — Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is seeking permission from Myanmar’s government to meet with Western diplomats about having their countries lift sanctions against the military regime, her party said Monday.

UNITE HERE union returns to AFL-CIO 4 years after leaving in dispute

PITTSBURGH — One of the unions that left the AFL-CIO in a bitter dispute that split the labor movement four years ago is coming back to the labor federation.

One-time coal miner Richard Trumka ushers in more aggressive style as new AFL-CIO president

PITTSBURGH — Richard Trumka, who rose from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to the top ranks of the nation’s labor movement, took the helm of the AFL-CIO on Wednesday, ushering in a more aggressive style of leadership and vowing to revive unions’ sagging membership rolls.

Trumka ushers in more aggressive style as new AFL-CIO president

PITTSBURGH — Richard Trumka, who rose from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to the top ranks of the nation’s labor movement, took the helm of the AFL-CIO on Wednesday, ushering in a more aggressive style of leadership and vowing to revive unions’ sagging membership rolls.

Older, grayer AFL-CIO making greater push to pull in younger members

PITTSBURGH — The face of organized labor is getting older and grayer, but the AFL-CIO’s new leaders said Monday they intend to change that trend and spark a resurgence in union membership.

Obama appears at union picnic, asks workers to help resuscitate slumping economy, save jobs

CINCINNATI — President Barack Obama declared Monday that modern benefits like paid leave, minimum wage and Social Security “all bear the union label,” as he appealed to organized labor to help him win the health care fight in Congress.

Gay community remembers Kennedy as champion of AIDS funding, gay marriage, hate crime law

BOSTON — For decades, Edward Kennedy was considered the most powerful voice in the Senate for gay rights as a strong supporter of HIV/AIDS funding, hate crimes legislation and same-sex marriage.

No rest for Emmett Till even in death; boy’s original casket tied to Chicago cemetery scandal

CHICAGO — When his mother put the battered body of 14-year-old Emmett Till in the ground more than 50 years ago, it was supposed to be the end of a sad saga for the boy whose lynching became a rallying point for the civil rights movement.

Activist who gave life to ‘Milk’ and AIDS Quilt relishes next act

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Cleve Jones is happy. As happy as he has ever been, thank you. He has a labor union job he loves, powerful allies in Hollywood and Washington, guys to date. Best of all, a new generation of gay activists has embraced him as the mentor he once had, the man whose story he helped deliver to the screen in the movie “Milk.”

Trumka launches bid to become AFL-CIO’s first new president in 14 years

WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest labor federation is about to elect its first new leader in 14 years after the labor movement split because of tensions about the longtime leadership.

Iran’s unassuming political insider now rock star in opposition “green wave” movement

He’s gone from colorless insider to political rock star — a graying, bearded veteran of the Islamic regime who now stands at the forefront of a youth-driven movement fighting for change.

Ali, Aaron, Clinton, Cosby highlight baseball’s expanded civil rights tribute

CINCINNATI — Major League Baseball is fielding a star-filled lineup to spotlight the first regular-season Civil Rights Game.

Rivals vying to lead National Organization for Women see need for reviving feminist ranks

NEW YORK — After years on the defensive during the Bush administration, the National Organization for Women is elated to have a president sharing many of its goals. Yet NOW heads into its own leadership contest — a sharp contrast of age and race — mindful of the need to energize its ranks.

Trumka poised to become next head of AFL-CIO as labor’s fortunes rise

WASHINGTON — Richard Trumka still keeps his old coal miner’s helmet on a shelf in his spacious office overlooking the Washington Monument.

DC honors gay rights pioneer who helped remove homosexuality from list of mental illnesses

WASHINGTON — Fresh off his doctorate from Harvard, Franklin Kameny had been a government astronomer for just five months when he was asked to meet with federal investigators. They said they had information that he was a homosexual. He was promptly fired.

‘Be Beautiful and Vote’: Women everywhere in Lebanon election, except as candidates

BEIRUT — A seductive woman looks out from the billboards that line Beirut’s highways proclaiming, “Be Beautiful and Vote,” one political party’s appeal to women in this beauty-obsessed nation’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

California labor leader Jack Henning, who served 2 presidents, dies at 93

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jack Henning, a pioneering leader of California’s labor movement who served under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, has died at his home in San Francisco. He was 93.

Assisted-suicide group’s training manual provides detailed account of how it operated

PHOENIX — A training manual for an assisted-suicide group tells “exit guides” that they are special people and should celebrate their role in guiding others to their deaths.

45 years after Freedom Summer, Miss. quietly gets rid of laws meant to thwart civil rights

JACKSON, Miss. — While researching a case, attorney Ed Blackmon stumbled across leftovers of Mississippi’s segregationist past — laws enacted to discourage the fight for equal rights for blacks.