SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka's army chief says troops have positively identified the body
of Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran after recovering it
from the battlefield Tuesday.
Following the announcement, Sri Lankan television broadcast video of
what appears to be Prabhakaran's body. The face was intact and bore a
clear resemblance to the rebel leader.
The footage also shows what is said to be Prabhakaran's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam identity card and his military tag.
Earlier, rebels insisted in a statement carried on the pro-rebel Tamilnet Web site that Prabhakaran was still alive.
BURMA - SUU KYI: Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi faced a second day of hearings
Tuesday as international criticism of her trial grew. Hundreds of
police, some in full riot gear, were deployed along roads
leading to Insein prison where the trial is being held behind closed
doors.
Twenty-two witnesses are expected to testify against Aung San Suu Kyi
in the trial, which her lawyer says could last three months.
On Monday, the court heard from (Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Min Aung,) the
police officer who signed the original complaint against the Nobel
Peace laureate.
US - ISRAEL: U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Israel's prime minister to seize what he calls a "historic opportunity" to make serious progress in peace with the Palestinians. Mr. Obama reiterated his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Monday, during his first White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader said after the talks that he wants the Palestinians to govern themselves but without what he called a "handful of powers that could endanger Israel." Mr. Netanyahu meets Tuesday with members of U.S. Congress, where he will answer questions about his plans for peace.
US - BALKANS: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the first stop of his three-day visit to the Balkans.
Biden's plane landed early Tuesday in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo,
where he will be joined by the European Union's foreign policy chief,
Javier Solana.
A senior White House official says Biden will meet with members of the
country's three-man presidency to show what he says is the need to work
across ethnic lines and build a consensus.
Tensions remain high more than 13 years after the Dayton peace accords
split Bosnia among its ethnic Muslims, Croats and Serbs.
RUSSIA - US - ARMS: Negotiations between Russia and the United States on a new agreement to
reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons opened Tuesday in Moscow.
The two-day talks are aimed at crafting a replacement to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires in December.
Negotiators hope to narrow their differences ahead of U.S. President
Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Moscow in July for talks with his
Russian counterpart, Dmitri Medvedev.
Russian negotiators are likely to use the talks to discuss Washington's
plans to deploy a controversial missile shield in Europe, which Moscow
bitterly opposes.
SWINE FLU: Japanese health officials confirmed dozens of new cases of swine influenza A-H1N1 Tuesday as the country's tally rose to 173. The disease also forced the closure of more than 4,000 schools. The surge in Japan's outbreak comes as the World Health Organization warned at an annual meeting that officials should expect swine flu to keep spreading to new countries. Japanese officials say the number of cases has surged over the past few days since infections were confirmed in the port city of Kobe and nearby Osaka. Officials say the new infections did not have a clear connection to foreign travel and involved mostly teenagers.
CHINA - TIANANMEN: A U.S.-based rights group says China has released the last known
prisoner jailed for so-called hooliganism during the 1989 Tiananmen
democracy movement.
The Dui Hua Foundation says Liu Zhihua was one of four workers who
organized a factory strike in the central province of Hunan to protest
the Tiananmen military crackdown, which left hundreds if not thousands
dead.
The group said the strike took place at a factory in Xiangtan, which
was equally sensitive because it was the home town of Mao Zedong,
founder of communist China.
CHINA - PAPUA NEW GUINEA: The Chinese Embassy in Papua New Guinea has pleaded for calm and asked
the government there to restore order following attacks on
Chinese-owned businesses and shops.
Protests and looting have hit several towns in recent days. Papua New Guinea's local newspaper, (The National,)
reported Tuesday that police fired more than 50 shots into the air in
the town of Mount Hagen on Monday, after a crowd of hundreds refused to
disperse.
Local media reports say many in Papua New Guinea blame Chinese
immigrants for their poor standard of living, and accuse the immigrants
of unfair business practices.
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