GATES-EUROPE-AFGHAN: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates - in an effort to gain support for the war in Afghanistan - asked Europeans today (Sunday) to remember what their needs were 60 years ago in the aftermath of World War Two. Speaking in Munich at the annual European Security Conference, Gates described Afghanistan's citizens as a people devastated by war, and he called on NATO allies to commit to sending their troops to the war-torn country. He warned against NATO becoming a two-tiered organization of those willing, and those not willing to fight.
US-PAKISTAN: The top U.S. military commander is expected to travel today (Sunday) to northwest Pakistan, to a military facility Pakistan uses to fight al-Qaida and the Taliban in areas near Afghanistan. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is in Pakistan for discussions about the war on terror. He will visit Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. The admiral said Saturday in Islamabad the threat of Islamic extremism is growing in Pakistan. Admiral Mullen spoke after he met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
BURMA ELECTIONS: Burma's military government says it will hold a referendum on a new constitution in May -- followed by elections in 2010. In a brief announcement on state media Saturday, the government said the time has now come to change from military rule to democratic civilian rule.
INDONESIA-STAMPEDE: A stampede at a concert in Indonesia has killed 10 people, mostly teenagers, and injured several other people. Indonesian police and local media say the incident occurred late Saturday at a music concert in Bandung, the capital of West Java Province. It is not clear what caused the stampede of hundreds of concertgoers. Bandung police chief says concert organizers may have distributed alcohol at the event. Police have questioned the organizers.
Audio in Lao.