Zimbabwe: A spokesman for Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he is hospitalized in intensive care, and may have a cracked skull from a police beating.
The spokesman (William Bango) says Tsvangirai underwent a brain scan today (Wednesday).
The opposition leader had been due back in court to face accusations he had defied a ban on anti-government protests.
Tsvangirai and about 30 other activists are being treated at a hospital in Harare for severe beatings they say were inflicted by police.
A lawyer for Tsvangirai (Alec Muchadehama) says prosecutors did not show up in court today, ignoring a court order to charge the activists or release them. The lawyer says the activists who came to court were allowed to go home.
The opposition figures were detained Sunday when police stopped an opposition rally near Harare that authorities had declared illegal.
Iran Nuclear: Diplomats from six world powers hope to present a new package of proposed sanctions against Iran to the U.N. Security Council today (Wednesday).
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed the threat of more sanctions over his country's nuclear program. (Speaking at a rally in central Iran today - Wednesday,) Mr. Ahmadinejad said world powers are only "isolating themselves" and that they are "wrong" in thinking they can make the Iranian nation surrender.
At the United Nations, envoys from Germany and the five permanent Security Council members (the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China) held extensive talks on a draft resolution Tuesday.
Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones-Parry, said "there are just one or two issues to resolve."
Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin described the talks as "very good," but also said there were lingering concerns. China also indicated it still has questions.
NoKor – IAEA: A spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency says the agency's chief has not been able to meet with North Korea's top nuclear negotiator during a visit to Pyongyang.
Melissa Flemming says North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Kwan canceled his meeting today (Wednesday) with the IAEA's Mohamed ElBaradei because he was busy preparing for six-nation talks set for Monday in Beijing.
She says Kim sent another vice foreign minister (Kim Kyong Jun) in his place.
ElBaradei's trip is the result of a six-nation deal last month in which North Korea agreed to close its main nuclear complex and re-admit U.N. inspectors within 60 days in exchange for aid.
Flemming said ElBaradei has met the chairman of North Korea's atomic energy agency and is scheduled to see (Kim Yong Dae,) the vice president of the standing committee of the legislature (the Supreme People's Assembly).
World Stocks: European and Asian stock markets have fallen sharply today (Wednesday), extending a sell-off that began on Wall Street Tuesday.
Major indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt lost one-and-a-half percent in early trading.
Tokyo's Nikkei Index closed down almost three percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped two-and-a-half percent.
A U.S. housing market report Tuesday showed a rise in mortgage delinquencies (late home loan payments), raising fears that American consumers could pull back on spending.
The report triggered a slump of nearly two percent in New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average, its second-worst sell-off of the year.
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