Michelle Obama answers her young fans

President Obama and family at the annual Easter egg roll

Armenian protesters wring concessions from govt, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Opposition capitalising on anger over economy


* Signs both sides trying to avoid confrontation



By Hasmik Mkrtchyan



YEREVAN, April 28 (Reuters) - Around 5,000 Armenians rallied

against the government on Thursday, the latest in a series of

opposition protests beginning to wring concessions from

President Serzh Sarksyan.



Spurred in part by Arab uprisings in the Middle East and

North Africa, the opposition in the ex-Soviet republic is trying

to capitalise on popular anger over the state of the economy

ahead of the next parliamentary election due in 2012.

Fearful voters trickle out to northern Nigeria polls, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Two northern states hold votes delayed by violence

* Voters nervous following rioting

* Ruling party maintains dominance around country

(Adds quotes from town outside Kaduna)

By Joe Brock

KADUNA, Nigeria, April 28 (Reuters) - Voters trickled out to polling stations on Thursday in two states in northern Nigeria where rioting killed hundreds last week, under the watchful eye of policemen on horseback and soldiers manning barricades.

Nigeria's ruling party won 16 of the 24 states which held governorship elections on Tuesday but the polls were delayed by two days in Kaduna and Bauchi in what the electoral commission said was an attempt to allow "tempers to cool".

Republican Townhall Meeting displays anger, Posted by Meosha Eaton

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Obama to shake up security team, Panetta to Pentagon, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Panetta to replace Gates as U.S. defense secretary

* Petraeus to take over as CIA chief from Panetta

* Budget battle, Afghan drawdown confront security team (Recasts, adds details and background)

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will name Leon Panetta, a veteran Washington politician and current CIA director, as his Defense Secretary as he resets his national security team ahead of the 2012 presidential campaign and a battle over the Pentagon budget.

US Republican White House race may gain steam, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Several Republicans nearing decisions on 2012 race

* First televised debate scheduled for next week

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - The slow-starting race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination promises to heat up in the next few weeks, with new candidates and a face-to-face debate injecting life into what has been a dormant campaign.

Barely nine months before the first nominating contest, Republicans are still trying to launch a 2012 race that has been overshadowed by President Barack Obama's battles with his Republican foes in Congress on spending and debt.

Dior legacy on display in lavish Moscow exhibit, Posted by Meosha Eaton

By Nastassia Astrasheuskaya

MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters Life!) - The bright garden paintings by European masters fanned French doyen of fashion Christian Dior's imagination, and form a unique exhibit which opens on Thursday alongside over 100 of his dresses.

Dior's delicate bejewelled gowns and slim-waisted jackets hang beneath mirror-covered ceilings in Moscow's state-run Pushkin Museum, paying tribute to the designer who died in 1957 at the age of 52 after changing the landscape of women's fashion.

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Obama: birth controversy distracts from big issues, Posted by Meosha Eaton

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday called a controversy over his birth certificate a "side show" that distracted from important issues such as the federal budget.

The White House publicly released a copy of the birth certificate from Hawaii. (Editing by Vicki Allen)