As expected, the U.S. Senate Wednesday rejected five separate budget plans for 2013, including one that mirrors a budget blueprint offered by President Barack Obama.

The lawmakers unanimously turned down the plan submitted by Republicans and based on the president's budget, 99-to-zero. Mr. Obama's Democratic Party called the vote a political stunt, saying it was unnecessary since last year's deal to raise the debt ceiling contained spending caps.

The chamber also rejected four other proposals submitted by Republicans.

The votes followed a day of debate in which senators from both sides accused each other of being irresponsible when it comes to government spending and cutting the deficit.

The Republican plans are meant to highlight the fact that the majority Democrats have not come up with a budget plan of their own.

Some Democrats have criticized their party for the failure to produce a budget. But others argue that last year's debt-limit agreement, the law known as the Budget Control Act, erases the need for a separate budget resolution.

With the upcoming November presidential election, pressure is building on lawmakers and the Obama administration to curb a crippling trillion-dollar budget gap and decrease the $15 trillion national debt.

Greece has sworn in a senior judge as the country's new caretaker prime minister.

Council of State head Panagiotis Pikrammenos was appointed Wednesday after major political parties failed to form a coalition government following several attempts to broker a deal.

The 67-year-old Mr. Pikrammenos will be tasked with organizing the country's repeat elections scheduled for June 17.

Analysts say the new elections, like those held earlier this month, are also likely to produce a hung parliament with no party securing enough votes to form a government. But a radical left coalition led by Alexis Tsipras, the Syriza party leader who fiercely opposes austerity measures, has gained enough support to have a major influence.

The political stalemate in Greece has led to rising concerns among eurozone financial ministers that Athens will not uphold the austerity commitments it made as it secured the country's second financial bailout in the last two years.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said that it is not possible to change the commitments the previous Greek government made for the austerity plan. But he said Greeks have the choice to leave the 17-member eurozone.

“This being said, the ultimate resolve to stay in the euro area must come from Greece itself. We are fully aware that the present situation is asking a lot of the Greek people and many sacrifices. But this is the result of policies made in the past.”

Some Greeks have said they would support a return to their former domestic currency, the drachma.

But International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde warns that Greece's exit from the eurozone would be extremely expensive and hard. Speaking on Dutch public television Wednesday, she called on Greek leaders to stick to the bailout agreement made with the IMF and the European Union.

The Greek political impasse has rattled European markets and threatens to undermine the eurozone. The issue figured high in the first official talks Tuesday between France's new president, Francois Hollande, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During the meeting in Berlin, the two leaders said they support Greece staying in the currency union.

The economic measures include deep spending cuts, tax hikes, pension cuts and eliminating thousands of government jobs. Greeks have taken to the streets in sometimes violent protests against the bailout requirements.

An expert panel monitoring United Nations sanctions on Iran says Syria continues to be the main destination for Iranian arms shipments in violation of a U.N. Security Council ban on weapons exports by Tehran.

The new assessment said the panel investigated three large illegal shipments of Iranian weapons over the past year.

Reuters quotes the confidential report as saying “two of these cases involved [Syria], as were the majority of cases inspected by the panel during its previous mandate, underscoring that Syria continues to be the central party to illicit Iranian arms transfers.”

The third shipment involved rockets that Britain said last year were headed for Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

A security council diplomat confirmed the report also described Iran's efforts to evade sanctions by renaming ships to obscure their identity and to use front companies to procure banned items.

Officials in Guinea-Bissau say the head of the country's new interim government has named a prime minister to help lead a transition following last month's military coup.

The officials said Wednesday that Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo selected former finance minister Rui Duarte Barros to be prime minister.

The tiny African nation has been at an impasse since April 12, when soldiers seized power and arrested interim President Raimundo Pereira and his prime minister. Both men later fled the country.

The coup derailed a presidential run-off election to replace late President Malam Bacai Sanha, who died in January.

It also stalled talks with the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. The regional bloc has imposed diplomatic and economic sanctions on the junta and warned it would deploy a peacekeeping force to Guinea-Bissau if constitutional rule is not restored.

About 650 troops from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Togo are expected to arrive in the capital, Bissau, beginning Friday and will be stationed at army barracks outside of the capital.

A new interim government headed by parliamentary speaker Nhamadjo is expected to be installed next week, with ECOWAS's backing. The regional bloc's President Kadre Desire Ouedraogo said ECOWAS is supporting what is expected to be a year-long transition period for Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea-Bissau has endured numerous coups and attempted coups in the past 30 years. It is also a key transit point for international drug traffickers.

Chuck Brown, the musician known as “The Godfather of Go-Go,” has died at 75 after a bout with pneumonia.

After several minor hit records, Brown created his own sound in the 1970s — a combination of funk, soul, and Latin music he called Go-Go, because he said the music goes and goes all night. The hit, “Bustin' Loose,” with his group, The Soul Searchers, helped define Go-Go's sound.

Go-Go became a signature sound of the African-American community of Washington, D.C. The affable, gravelly-voiced Brown was a familiar presence in the city's nightclubs and on the streets of black neighborhoods.

Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic went on trial at The Hague Wednesday, the first day in the long-awaited war crimes trial in which the defiant 70-year-old taunted the families of victims.

International prosecutors have indicted Mladic on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide, committed during the early 1990s in the Bosnian ethnic conflicts.

Mladic entered the courtroom defiantly, with thumbs-up and clapping his hands. He ran his fingers across his throat as he looked at the victims' families watching behind bulletproof glass.

The prosecution showed video footage and transcripts of Mladic's phone conversation as evidence of his role in the killing of civilians during the 43-month-long siege of Bosnia's capital Sarajevo.

Prosecuting lawyer Dermot Groome told the U.N. court that Mladic ordered his troops to kill those who were not Serbs in the Bosnian territory he considered part of Serbia.

“He assumed a mantle of realizing, through military might, the criminal goals of ethnically cleansing much of Bosnia.''

Mladic is accused of helping orchestrate the bloody siege of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, and ordering the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the UN-protected Srebrenica enclave in July 2005.

Prosecutors say they will use evidence from more than 400 witnesses, though very few of them will testify in court. The first witness is scheduled to start testifying May 29.

Mladic's lawyer Branko Lukic said the defense is asking for a delay because more time is needed to study the huge case file.

“We couldn't continue without a postponement. It is not possible to read through a few millions pages in two weeks, it's impossible. We were really conservative in asking for delays and we asked for the minimum. After the latest findings of how much time we need, we asked for six months. How much we will be given, we shall see.''

But many relatives of the victims expressed frustration at the delays, and said they hope that the ailing Mladic will survive to see justice being done.

But Mladic is considered a hero by many Serbs, especially in Bosnia. He was arrested a year ago in Serbia, after about 16 years on the run as one of Europe's most wanted men. Observers say he could not have been in hiding so long without a support network.

The estranged wife of lawyer and environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been found dead.

An attorney says police discovered the body of 52-year-old Mary Kennedy in her home in Bedford, north of New York City. Police have released no other details.

Mary Kennedy was Kennedy's second wife. The two filed for divorce in 2010 after 16 years of marriage.

Robert Kennedy is an author of several books and one of the United States' top environmental lawyers.

He is the son of Senator Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated in June 1968 while seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in November 1963.

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor told judges at his sentencing hearing Wednesday in the Netherlands he has “deepest sympathies” for those who suffered during Sierra Leone's brutal, decade-long civil war.

But Taylor stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing or apologizing for atrocities committed by rebels he armed in exchange for so-called “blood diamonds,” mined in eastern Sierra Leone.

Taylor told the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague that his actions during the bloody conflict were “done with honor” to bring peace to Sierra Leone. Taylor said he was “convinced that unless there was peace in Sierra Leone, Liberia would not be able to more forward.”

The 64-year-old former president, who was convicted last month on 11 counts of crimes against humanity — including acts of terrorism, murder, rape and the recruitment of child soldiers — appealed for leniency. The court said that although Taylor did not have command and control of the rebels, he was aware of their activities and provided them with weapons and other supplies.

Prosecutors are demanding an 80-year prison term. But Taylor's attorneys have argued that such a long sentence would be overly harsh and place too much blame on him.

The sentencing is scheduled for May 30.

During his remarks Wednesday, Taylor also accused the prosecution of paying witnesses to testify against him and accused the court of being part of a Western conspiracy against him and other black Africans.

Taylor is the first African head of state to be brought before an international tribunal to face charges for mass atrocities and violations of international humanitarian law.

New French President Francois Hollande is putting the pieces in place to forge ahead with “a new path” for the European economic power.

Aides announced the formation of the new French Cabinet Wednesday, one day after the Socialist politician was sworn in as president during a rain-soaked ceremony in Paris.

The new assignments include former Socialist prime minister Laurent Fabius as foreign minister and Pierre Moscovici as finance minister. Moscovici is a former minister for European affairs and had served as Mr. Hollande's campaign director.

Other key ministers include new Labor Minister Michael Sapin, new Interior Minister Manuel Valls and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Drian.

Mr. Hollande named Jean-Marc Ayrault on Tuesday to be his prime minister. The parliamentary leader of the Socialist party speaks German.

President Hollande also appeared to make good on a campaign pledge to have women equally represented in the Cabinet. While most of the top posts went to men, 17 of the 34 positions have been filled by women.

However, one of the country's leading women politicians is not part of the Cabinet. Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry – a rival of Mr. Hollande – said she agreed not to take a consolation post as it made little sense.

After his inauguration Tuesday, Mr. Hollande flew to Berlin for key discussions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The two leaders pledged to work together on proposals to generate economic growth in Europe and avert a currency crisis.

During his election campaign, Mr. Hollande criticized the austerity deal forged by his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the German chancellor. The new French leader said he wants to spur growth and reduce debt without measures that hurt people. Ms. Merkel has said the recent eurozone treaty, which imposes budget austerity among its 17 member nations, is non-negotiable.

European leaders will meet informally next week and at a summit in June.