CLIMATE CONFERENCE: The world's nations will come together in Copenhagen on Monday for 12 days of talks on fighting global warming.
The 192 members of the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change are
under increasing pressure to come up with an agreement to set targets
for controlling emissions of global warming gases, and agreeing on how
much rich countries should pay for poor nations' clean energy
technology.
The participants will try to reach a new international accord on
reducing emissions that would replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which
expires in 2012.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people held protests across Europe to demand tangible action at the conference.
In the London rally, most people were dressed in blue to create the illusion of a human wave around the Houses of Parliament.
US-AFGHANISTAN: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the United States does not
know the whereabouts of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and has not had
good intelligence on his location in years. In an interview to be aired Sunday on the ABC television program "This
Week," Gates said the U.S. would "go and get" bin Laden if it could
gather reliable information on his location. U.S. and allied military officials have said they believe that bin
Laden is hiding somewhere along the mountainous border between Pakistan
and Afghanistan. In eastern Afghanistan, international forces said a U.S. soldier was
killed by a bomb Saturday. A statement also said Afghan and
international security forces carried out an air strike early Sunday in
Laghman province, killing a group of militants.
NATO says Afghan and international forces in southern Kandahar province
detained a Taliban commander and another militant responsible for
several bomb attacks in the area.
NOKOR NUCLEAR: The U.S. envoy for North Korea arrived in South Korea Sunday on the way to a meeting in Pyongyang to convince the North to end its boycott of six-party nuclear disarmament talks. Stephen Bosworth will travel to Pyongyang on Tuesday in what will be the first one-on-one talks between Washington and the North since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in January. North Korea has pushed for direct talks with the U.S. since it pulled out of negotiations in protest of international criticism of a rocket launch in April. Washington has said it would engage the North only if it leads to the resumption of six-party talks that also involve South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
PHILIPPINES-MASSACRE: Military officials in the southern Philippines say they unearthed a large cache of weapons and ammunition Sunday on the property of a powerful clan accused of the political massacre of 57 people last month. President Gloria Arroyo declared martial law and suspended civil rights in Maguindanao province late Friday, allowing troops to make arrests without warrants. The declaration was announced on Saturday. Also on Saturday, authorities said troops took Andal Ampatuan Senior and his son (Zaldy Ampatuan) into custody at their home in Maguindanao. Another of Ampatuan's sons (Andal Ampatuan Junior) is already in jail in connection with the massacre. More than 40 people have been detained in the days since the killings.
RUSSIA-FIRE: Mourners in the Russian Urals city of Perm attended the first funerals
Sunday for victims of a nightclub fire that killed at least 112 people.
Officials say the death toll from the early Saturday blaze could rise,
because many victims are hospitalized in critical condition. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has declared Mondaya national day of mourning for the victims.
Mr. Medvedev demanded tough punishment for the owners of the nightclub.
He said they had repeatedly ignored warnings from fire inspectors.
Russian authorities have detained five people, including the Lame Horse
nightclub owner and founders, on suspicion of breaching safety rules.
