Hundreds injured during clashes between rival groups in Bahrain

Hundreds of people were injured in Bahrain Friday, when rival groups clashed over an attempted march in the town of Riffa, a residential area where the ruling Al-Khalifa family lives.

The national health ministry said 774 people were injured and 107 were hospitalized in the wake of the fighting.

Anti-government demonstrators in Riffa had planned a march. A crowd numbering roughly 8,000 set off on the march, according to Bahrain's ambassador to the United States.

But they were met by hundreds of people carrying swords, hatchets, metal pieces, cricket instruments and pieces of wood with nails hammered into them. The opposing group had already taken up positions in an effort to stop the planned march.

Bahrain's ambassador to the United States took the unusual step of commenting on the clashes in Riffa, which he called a "sectarian conflict" between Shia and Sunni Muslim factions. Law enforcement officers had erected barbed wire fences in an attempt to ward off any fighting, Houda Ezra Nonoo said in a statement.

The conflict began when small groups from opposing sides met at the security fence, he said.

Japanese-Americans seek news of quake back home

Japanese-Americans and Japanese expats in the United States are expressing shock and concern after a massive quake struck the Asian country.

Nancy Niijima says the images she saw when she turned on the TV in her Los Angeles retirement home looked like a scene from a science fiction movie.

New York City resident Misa Washio says she's been trying to reach a sister in Japan but that the phone lines are always jammed.

And Michi Hirose of the Southern California city of Torrance says has been unable to reach several relatives.

Japan America Society of Southern California president Doug Erber says his office has been fielding a constant stream of phone calls, e-mails and text messages from people who have not been able to reach friends and family in Japan.

Amanda Knox appeals trial resumes in Italy

Defense witnesses are taking the stand as the appeals murder trial of Amanda Knox has resumed in Italy after a two-month break.

Knox was convicted of murdering her British roommate in Perugia, Meredith Kercher, and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Her co-defendant and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito was also convicted and sentenced to 25 years.

They both deny wrongdoing and have appealed the 2009 verdict.

The defense witnesses were called to refute testimony in the first trial from a homeless man who said he had seen the defendants near the house the night Kercher was killed, Nov. 1, 2007.

The two deny being where the homeless man had placed them.

The witnesses Saturday included people who operate buses and discos in the area.

Obama keeps low profile on high profile issues

Call it an above-the-fray strategy.

On hot issues that Democrats and Republicans have found cause to fret about - from spending reductions to state labor disputes - President Barack Obama is keeping a low profile.

Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia want him more publicly engaged in budget negotiations in Congress while others want him to denounce Republican proposed program cuts. Democrats like Rep. Keith Ellison want him to go to Wisconsin to stand in solidarity with public unions fighting to retain their bargaining rights.

Some lawmakers in both parties want him to take a greater lead against Libya's idiosyncratic strongman, Moammar Gadhafi.

But the White House sees no upside in outspokenness.

"There is a very strong gravitational pull in this town to try to drag the president to every single political skirmish and news story," said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer said Obama has enough issues on his agenda and said the White House doesn't believe the public wants the president weighing in on an array of subjects.

"They want him leading the country; they don't want him serving as a cable commentator for the issue of the day," he said.

In a news conference Friday, Obama defended the role he has played in seeking a compromise on spending cuts in the current federal budget to avoid a government shutdown. But he made it clear that resolving the impasse rests mainly with congressional leaders. "This is an appropriations task," he said, putting the issue firmly in Congress' domain.

Manchin this week said an agreement could only be reached if Obama led the negotiations. "And, right now - that is not happening," he said.

Cuche to be fined, warned over 'attack' threat

Swiss skier Didier Cuche is to receive a written warning and a fine for threatening to "attack" a referee if a dangerous jump was not removed from the Olympiabakken World Cup course.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) says Cuche telephoned race director Gunter Hujara late Thursday and said: "If you don't take the jump down and anything happens, I will not hesitate to attack you in public."

Cuche, the defending World Cup downhill champion, will be fined $5,400 for unsportsmanlike behavior.

"We have no problem with him complaining about the jump," Hujara told The Associated Press. "It's the way he said it that's the problem."

The FIS race jury unanimously decided to sanction the skier, but Hujara said that the offense was "not too serious."

"It's like a yellow card in football," he said.

Cuche was not available for comment.