Seoul willing to revive talks with North Korea

In a major policy shift, Lee Myung-bak (photo, from dailylife.com), South Korea’s president, has proposed reviving direct talks with North Korea. He told the parliament that he was willing to carry out previous bilateral summit accords and provide the impoverished North with food aid.

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Iran tests prove US shield ‘unnecessary’

The results of Iran’s missile tests prove that US plans for a defence shield in Europe are unnecessary, said Sergei Lavrov (photo, from medianews.ge), Russian foreign minister.

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‘Unity government’ announced in Lebanon

Seven weeks after an agreement brokered by Qatar brought the coutry back from the brink of civil war, Lebanon has announced a new 30-members national unity government.
After a meeting with Lebanon’s president, Michel Sleiman, in Beirut on Friday, Fouad Siniora (photo, from time.com), reinstated as the country’s prime minister, announced the new cabinet.

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Cellar captive questionned in Austria

In Austria, Elisabeth Fritzl has begun being questioned by legal authorities.
She has recently been freed from the cellar in which her father, Josef, kept her captive for 24 years.
The prosecutor’s office said that a doctor was involved in the questioning, in order to determine how one of the seven babies that she was forced [...]

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US combat operations in Iraq over next year

Ground troops will have mostly finished combat operations in Iraq by the middle of 2009, said Lieutenant-General James Dubik (photo), a senior US army officer.
His remarks came as the White House said it was opposed to the request made by Baghdad of setting an “arbitrary” date for pulling out troops, as part of a security [...]

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Talks started in Zimbabwe

Officials from Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have met in Pretoria, confirmed South Africa. “They started talking this morning”, said Mukoni Ratshitanga, a spokesman for Thabo Mbeki, the South African president and Zimbabwe mediator, on Thursday.
But the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai (photo, from telegraph.co.uk), said the meeting has been [...]

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