US - CHINA TALKS: High-level officials from the U.S. and China will meet for a second day
Tuesday looking for ways to cooperate on economic issues, the
environment and security.
U.S. President Barack Obama opened Monday's discussions at the
U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington with a call
for broader cooperation between the two countries to spark economic
recovery and prevent nuclear proliferation.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Chinese Vice Premier Wang
Qishan say there are signs the global economy is beginning to emerge
from the worst of the financial crisis.
BURMA - SUU KYI: Officials say the trial of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest has ended,
with the court announcing it will deliver its verdict Friday.
If convicted, the Nobel peace laureate could be sent to prison for five
years. The French news agency quotes court officials as saying the
sentencing, if she is found guilty, is expected on the same day as the
verdict.
Prosecutors for Burma's military government made their final arguments
Monday and lawyers for Aung San Suu Kyi, her two domestic helpers and
American John Yettaw replied to the prosecution's closing arguments in
Tuesday's session.
THAILAND UNREST: Police in Thailand say three people have been shot to death and three security personnel wounded in a bombing in the restive south. Authorities say a Buddhist rubber tapper and his wife were killed in an ambush early Tuesday as they traveled to work in Pattani province. Three security personnel were then wounded by a bomb as they inspected the site of the attack. In another incident, police said a gunman shot to death a Muslim man at a wedding ceremony, also in Pattani on Monday night. Malay rebels in the south have frequently targeted Buddhists and Muslims working for the Thai government or those suspected of being police informants.
NOKOR - NUCLEAR: The United States is rejecting North Korea's offer to hold one-on-one talks on its nuclear weapons program. A State Department spokesman said Monday that any bilateral meeting with the North can only be part of the six-party talks that include China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. But North Korea has declared those talks dead. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said no one should reward the North for simply retuning to the talks. She said Pyongyang must take irreversible steps to give up its nuclear program. She said such a move could bring fully normalized relations and economic aid.
US - IRAQ: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Iraq on a previously unannounced visit.
Gates arrived at a U.S. command post in Tallil Tuesday. He plans to
meet with Iraqi leaders, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, to
discuss the U.S. military's evolving role in Iraqi security. He will
also discuss arms sales to supply Iraq with security equipment after
the departure of U.S. troops.
Gates is also expected to visit Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in an
attempt to bridge the divide between Iraq's ethnic Kurds and majority
Arabs.
US - MIDEAST: U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday to try to resolve a dispute over Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The two met in Mr. Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem to discuss steps in bringing about Middle East peace. Washington says Israel must freeze settlement construction to promote peace, but Israel says it must continue building to allow for the settlements' "natural growth." Mitchell's meeting with Mr. Netanyahu is part of a new U.S. diplomatic push to end the Israeli-Arab conflict.
TERROR - ARRESTS: U.S. authorities have charged seven men of North Carolina with plotting to carry out terror attacks overseas. The suspects are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad. An indictment unsealed on Monday says the alleged ringleader, 39-year-old Daniel Boyd, and several other suspects traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel in June 2007 to engage in "violent jihad," but their efforts failed. Prosecutors say Boyd traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan between 1989 and 1992 for military style training in terrorist camps.
US OBESITY STUDY: New research shows that obesity and the cost of treating
obesity-related illnesses in the United States rose dramatically
between 1998 and 2006.
The study was published Monday in the journal "Health Affairs." It said
obesity-related health spending was estimated at $147 billion a year in
2006, roughly double the $74 billion estimated just eight years earlier.
Researchers from a nonprofit group, the Research Triangle Institute,
and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in their
study that obesity-related health conditions, including diabetes and
heart disease, now account for 9.1 percent of all medical spending.
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