| Japan goes off script at nuclear summit to slam North Korea Posted:  Japan steered off the agenda at a nuclear security summit on Tuesday to hit out at North Korea's plans for a rocket launch next month, as U.S. President Barack Obama cautioned against complacency in dealing with the threat of nuclear terrorism. North Korea and Iran's nuclear weapons programs are not on the agenda at the summit in the South Korean capital, Seoul, and neither country was invited to the forum involving some 50 world leaders tasked with improving security at nuclear facilities. ...
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| France's Strauss-Kahn under investigation in pimping case Posted:  LILLE, France (Reuters) - Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was placed under formal investigation on Monday by authorities looking into a suspected prostitution ring in the French city of Lille, his lawyer said, following a day of questioning by judges in a closed courtroom. The investigation on suspicion of complicity in a pimping operation is the latest judicial headache for the Socialist ex-finance minister. The move could lead to a trial but it falls short of charging him. ...
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| U.S. seeks missile-defense shields for Asia, Mideast Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is seeking to build regional shields against ballistic missiles in both Asia and the Middle East akin to a controversial defense system in Europe, a senior Pentagon official disclosed on Monday. The effort may complicate U.S. ties with Russia and China, both of which fear such defenses could harm their security even though the United States says they are designed only to protect against states like Iran and North Korea. The U.S. ... |
| Analysis: West waits on Myanmar vote to start sanctions scale-back Posted:  BANGKOK (Reuters) - Western countries desperately want Myanmar's by-elections on Sunday to go smoothly - and give opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi a seat in parliament - so they can start to lift sanctions and let their companies invest in the once-isolated state. Myanmar's civilian rulers have astonished with a reform drive since taking office a year ago, freeing hundreds of political prisoners jailed by the former junta, holding peace talks with ethnic militias and opening up the economy. ...
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| Australian Senate no legal haven for Wikileaks boss Posted:  CANBERRA (Reuters) - A seat in Australia's parliament for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange would do nothing to protect him from his legal battles in Britain and Sweden, or any potential legal fight over leaked U.S. diplomatic cables, an expert on parliament said on Tuesday. Assange wants to run for the upper house Senate in Australia, and told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Tuesday that he would use the protection of parliament to champion free speech and break court suppression orders. ...
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| North Korea gives details of "weather" satellite launch Posted: SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea gave details for the first time of a "weather satellite" it plans to send into orbit next month, a launch the West sees as a disguised ballistic missile test which has prompted criticism from the reclusive state's only major ally, China. The North's KCNA news agency described it as an "advanced geostationary meteorological satellite data receiver" as world leaders gathered in the South Korean capital, Seoul, for a nuclear security summit. ... |
| Turkey's ex-army chief refuses defense in "terrorism" trial Posted:  SILIVRI, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey's former armed forces chief General Ilker Basbug said on Tuesday he would not defend himself against terrorism charges, describing the allegations against him as a "comedy" and calling for his trial to be heard by the supreme court. Basbug, accused of involvement in a plot to overthrow the government, told the court he had no respect for the indictment, saying the allegations were against the Turkish armed forces and were a serious insult to the state. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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| Analysis: Greek nightmare makes poor ad for asset sales Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - Greece's wretched experience has been a poor advert for asset sales as a tool to cut state borrowings, but others in the euro zone high debt club are much better placed to make a decent fist of privatizations. Italy, Spain and Ireland, all of which are grappling with towering debt burdens, have the luxury of time, at least relative to Greece, and can structure privatization deals to maximize their impact and bide their time on pricing. ...
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| Syria replies to Annan; Homs shelled again Posted:  GENEVA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkey and Norway closed their embassies in Syria on Monday, further isolating President Bashar al-Assad whose forces bombarded the battered city of Homs with mortars in an effort to quell unrest. Video showed towering flames and thick black smoke billowing from at least two locations in Homs, Syria's third largest city, which has become the epicenter for the year-long revolt. Residents accused the army of indiscriminate shelling. "Every day the shelling goes on. The regime is wiping out the city," said Waleed Faris, an activist who lives in Homs. ...
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| Seeking Cuba freedoms, pope to honor patron saint Posted:  SANTIAGO, Cuba (Reuters) - Pope Benedict will pay homage on Tuesday to a representation of Cuba's patron saint, a diminutive doll-sized figurine called the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, on a trip he hopes will bring greater freedoms to the communist-run island. The pontiff's visit comes on the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the icon, which is an important figure for both the Roman Catholic Church and Santeria, the Afro-Cuban religion that is a legacy of Cuba's slavery era and knows her as Ochun, the goddess of love. ...
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| North Korea pushes back at US criticism of launch Posted:  North Korea on Tuesday rebuffed President Barack Obama's criticism of its plans to launch a satellite aboard a rocket, calling his stance confrontational and vowing to go forward with what it insisted was a peaceful mission.
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| Obama says he's not 'hiding the ball' on Russia Posted:  Speaking to the microphones intentionally this time, President Barack Obama on Tuesday assured he had no hidden agenda with Russia for a second term, seeking to contain a controversial gaffe that bounded all the way to the campaign trail at home and back again.
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| Syria to top agenda at Arab summit in Baghdad Posted:  Arab leaders will offer plans this week to break the political "stalemate" that has engulfed Syria but they won't demand the resignation of President Bashar Assad, Iraq's top diplomat says.
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| Annan in Beijing for talks on ending Syria crisis Posted:  Kofi Annan, the United Nations and Arab League envoy to Syria, was in Beijing on Tuesday to seek China's backing for his plan for a negotiated end to the bloody conflict in Syria.
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| Spain sees gamble in vision of 'Sin City' Posted:  A Euro Vegas in down-and-out Spain?
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| Myanmar general defends military's political role Posted: Myanmar's army commander is defending the military's active role in government and says he will protect the nation's pro-military constitution. |
| Amnesty: Mideast executions boost 2011 global toll Posted:  A surge of executions last year in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen pushed the worldwide total higher than the year before, the global anti-death penalty group Amnesty International announced Monday.
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| Amnesty: US ranks 5th on global execution scale Posted:  The United States was the only Western democracy that executed prisoners last year, even as an increasing number of U.S. states are moving to abolish the death penalty, Amnesty International announced Monday.
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| Benedict arrives in Cuba in footsteps of John Paul Posted:  Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cuba on Monday in the footsteps of his more famous predecessor, gently pressing the island's longtime communist leaders to push through "legitimate" reforms their people desire, while also criticizing the excesses of capitalism.
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| Afghan security forces kill 3 NATO troops Posted:  Afghan security forces have shot and killed one American and two British troops in two separate incidents, the latest in a rising number of attacks in which Afghan forces have turned their weapons on their foreign partners.
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