Turkey – Kurds – Iraq: Turkey's prime minister says he has asked Washington to take "speedy" action in northern Iraq against Kurdish rebels blamed for deadly attacks in southeastern Turkey.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he raised the issue in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday. He says Rice asked him to be patient for a few days.
Rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, killed 12 Turkish soldiers Sunday in an ambush in Turkey's Hakkari province. Turkey's military says it killed 32 rebels in a counter-offensive.
The PKK says it captured eight Turkish soldiers in the fighting. It released what it says are the names of seven captives today. Turkey's military has confirmed that eight soldiers are missing.
About two-thousand Turkish protesters rallied against the PKK in Istanbul today (Monday) and criticized Mr. Erdogan for not taking immediate military action.
China Politics: China's ruling Communist Party has included two potential successors for President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in its new Politburo Standing Committee, which was unveiled today (Monday).
Mr. Hu will keep his place as the Communist Party chief, which ensures his leadership of the country and the military for a second five-year term.
Premier Wen also was re-appointed today (Monday) to the Standing Committee - the most powerful political body in the country.
The leaders' potential successors are Shanghai Party Secretary Xi Jinping and Liaoning province head Li Keqiang. It is not clear which man is favored for which government job (,although Xi entered the Great Hall of the People directly ahead of Li when presented to the media today).
The 204 members of the Communist Party's Central Committee voted on the Standing Committee, after being installed at the end of the party's 17th Congress Sunday.
President Hu consolidated his power during the week-long Congress.
Burma: Singapore's foreign minister says Southeast Asian nations are reluctant to impose sanctions on Burma because they could further isolate the military-ruled government.
George Yeo said today (Monday) that the sanctions likely would be ineffective and could worsen pre-existing divisions in Burma. He warned that without the military, Burma could dissolve into civil war.
Singapore is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-member group that includes Burma.
U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari has visited Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand to lobby them to push for political reconciliation in Burma. He is expected in India today (Monday), and will visit China before again heading to Burma.
Gambari has suggested the international community should seek an alternative to additional sanctions to encourage change in Burma.
Indoensia Aviation: An Indonesian transport safety committee says the pilot of an Indonesian airplane that crash-landed in March is to blame for the accident.
The committee's report says the pilot flew the aircraft at an excessive speed and took a steep flight path angle during the approach and landing.
The Boeing 737 crashed at the Yogyakarta airport in March, killing 21 of the 140 people on board. The pilot and co-pilot were among survivors of the crash, which happened after the plane skidded off the runway and plowed into a rice field, where it burst into flames.
The report released today (Monday) says the pilot did not follow warnings to abort the landing, circle around and make a stabilized approach to the runway.
Israel – Europe: Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has arrived in Paris where he will meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy today (Monday) to discuss Iran's nuclear program and other regional issues as part of a three-day European tour.
The visit comes as Israel is stepping up efforts to block Iran's nuclear program and pressing for new sanctions against Tehran in the United Nations.
Last week, Mr. Olmert traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek support for sanctions. Israel also sent its foreign minister to Beijing on a similar mission.
After meeting with Mr. Sarkozy today in Paris, Mr. Olmert will meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday in London.
In an interview in France's Le Monde newspaper today, U.N. nuclear watchdog chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, said that while he was unable to judge Iran's intentions, he estimates that it would take Tehran three to eight years to produce a nuclear bomb.
Kisten to our World News for details.