http://thestar.com.my/news/worldupdates/ Update: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 MYT 11:15:20 PM http://thestar.com.my/common/images/thestar_140x45.gif http://thestar.com.my/ 88 31 http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T202756Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460499-2&sec=Worldupdates SALANG PASS, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan emergency teams have recovered more than 150 bodies from a northern mountain pass hit by a series of avalanches, an official said on Wednesday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T195302Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460606-1&sec=Worldupdates MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday said sanctions against Iran were more "relevant" after Tehran made moves towards enriching higher-grade nuclear fuel, a deputy foreign minister told Interfax news agency. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T125835Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460503-1&sec=Worldupdates TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran believes a nuclear fuel exchange with the West is still possible, state television said on Wednesday, a day after the Islamic Republic's expansion of uranium enrichment drew a U.S. warning of more sanctions soon. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T183715Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460560-2&sec=Worldupdates LONDON (Reuters) - The British government failed on Wednesday in a legal challenge to keep secret U.S. intelligence material relating to allegations of "cruel and inhuman" treatment involving the CIA. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T190410Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460528-3&sec=Worldupdates ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Wednesday it had information suggesting Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud had died of wounds inflicted in a U.S. drone aircraft attack in January. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T154748Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460551-1&sec=Worldupdates LONDON (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft are making daily incursions into Lebanese air space, creating a very dangerous situation, Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T173507Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460509-2&sec=Worldupdates ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters on Wednesday he had "credible information" that Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud was dead but did not have confirmation. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T144344Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460532-1&sec=Worldupdates TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan has reached agreement with China to allow investments into its securities and insurance sectors, with a detailed announcement due soon, Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Wednesday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T191233Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460534-3&sec=Worldupdates TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has arrested several people who were preparing to disrupt rallies on Feb. 11 marking the 1979 Islamic revolution, police said on Wednesday, in a clear warning to opposition supporters planning new protests. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T194232Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460592-2&sec=Worldupdates BEIJING (Reuters) - China has indicted four employees of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto on charges of bribery and stealing business secrets, setting the stage for a trial in the case that has jangled investor nerves. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T193442Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460459-5&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The second major snowstorm in less than a week lashed the East Coast from Washington to New York on Wednesday, forcing federal and local government agencies, the United Nations and schools to close. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T180440Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460583-2&sec=Worldupdates ROME (Reuters) - Italy moved a step closer to reinstating nuclear energy, abandoned more than 20 years ago, after the government on Wednesday gave a final approval to a decree setting criteria to select sites for new atomic plants. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T175109Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460577-1&sec=Worldupdates LOI TAI LENG, Myanmar (Reuters) - Whether the country is ruled by brutal military dictators or democratically elected civilians, rebels who control this jungle enclave have made one thing very clear: they want nothing to do with Myanmar. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T171048Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460569-1&sec=Worldupdates MANILA (Reuters) - A billionaire senator who once lived in Manila's slums before rising to become one of the Philippines' top property magnates said on Wednesday he cannot promise no new taxes to reduce the government's budget deficit if elected president on May 10. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T180532Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460581-1&sec=Worldupdates BANGKOK (Reuters) - Military-ruled Myanmar wants ethnic groups to take part in this year's elections, the first in two decades, but most do not trust the regime and are refusing to join the political process. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T165617Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460556-1&sec=Worldupdates BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military freed a Reuters photographer in Iraq on Wednesday after holding him for almost a year and a half without charge. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T165727Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460558-1&sec=Worldupdates BANGKOK (Reuters) - Red-shirted supporters of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra are gearing up for mass protests, but their goal of bringing down the government looks difficult, and stirring up violence will not help their cause. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T163155Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460553-1&sec=Worldupdates CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities have accused detained senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's biggest opposition group, of trying to set up training camps for staging attacks, the group's lawyer said on Wednesday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T111347Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460472-1&sec=Worldupdates KABUL (Reuters) - Efforts to persuade Afghanistan's farmers to stop growing illegal opium have failed in the past year, the United Nations said on Wednesday, predicting as much land will be under poppy cultivation this year as in 2009. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T154014Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460548-1&sec=Worldupdates KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich scored 48.95 percent in Sunday's election, 3.48 percent ahead of his rival Yulia Tymoshenko with 45.47 percent, results showed after 100 percent of the vote was counted. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T154829Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460541-1&sec=Worldupdates TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian appeal court has reduced to five years the jail sentence for an Iranian-American scholar detained after last year's disputed election and accused of espionage, an Iranian news agency reported on Wednesday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T154039Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460539-1&sec=Worldupdates YANGON (Reuters) - Faced with a shortage of small banknotes, people in Myanmar are resorting to bartering cigarettes, shampoo and other items. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T154915Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460552-1&sec=Worldupdates HARARE (Reuters) - Foreign-owned businesses operating in Zimbabwe, including banks and mines, will be forced to sell a majority stake to locals within the next five years under government regulations due to take effect in March. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T114822Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460480-1&sec=Worldupdates HOUSTON (Reuters) - The space shuttle Endeavour and its six astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on Tuesday, carrying the station's last two main components. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T142512Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460525-1&sec=Worldupdates AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A week before Valentine's Day, a consignment of cocaine was found hidden among 20,000 roses from Latin America at Amsterdam airport, Dutch authorities said on Wednesday. http://thestar.com.my/news/nastory.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T124608Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460500-1&sec=Worldupdates JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian suspect went on trial on Wednesday charged in connection with bomb attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta and a plan to assassinate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T123659Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460493-1&sec=Worldupdates BEIJING (Reuters) - The Supreme Court has urged China's judges to limit the use of death penalty to those convicted of the most serious crimes, under a policy of "justice tempered with mercy", the official Xinhua news agency said. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T133308Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460514-1&sec=Worldupdates NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York State Senate has voted to expel a senator for the first time in almost a century, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T111921Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460474-1&sec=Worldupdates BEIJING (Reuters) - Western powers are seeking new U.N. sanctions against Iran over its expanding nuclear programme, putting pressure on China which has long resisted tougher steps against the big oil supplier. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T121540Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460489-1&sec=Worldupdates YANGON (Reuters) - A court in army-ruled Myanmar on Wednesday sentenced a Burmese-American pro-democracy activist to three years in prison, his lawyer said, adding to concerns over the junta's human rights record ahead of elections. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T122709Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460447-2&sec=Worldupdates TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama picked a senior ruling party lawmaker known for battling to cut waste as administrative reform minister on Wednesday, in a bid to boost flagging support ahead of a mid-year election. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T091020Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460423-2&sec=Worldupdates PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Four weeks after an earthquake shattered its capital, Haiti remains in a precarious situation with no clear idea of how to house 1 million people living in the streets, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said on Tuesday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T055020Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460415-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama found common ground with Republicans on Tuesday over his top priorities of job creation and deficit reduction but drew a rebuke on healthcare reform. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T081731Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460437-1&sec=Worldupdates CANBERRA (Reuters) - Computer hackers disabled several Australian government websites on Wednesday in coordinated attacks protesting against a planned internet filter aimed at pornography. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T023627Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460306-3&sec=Worldupdates MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's top general said on Tuesday that differences over U.S. missile defence plans were directed against his country and were holding up an arms treaty with Washington, Russian news agencies reported. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T034244Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460390-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official on Tuesday criticized China and other leading developing countries for trying to weaken the Copenhagen Accord to fight global warming and raised the prospect that a fuller international pact may be not be struck by year's end. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T095205Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460457-1&sec=Worldupdates BEIJING (Reuters) - China has set up a national food safety commission, headed by a powerful vice premier, who at the watchdog's first meeting set his sights on the persistent problem of dangerously tainted milk, state media said on Wednesday. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T081243Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460433-1&sec=Worldupdates PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - The top U.N. official in Haiti urged Haitians on Tuesday to turn in thousands of escaped criminals before they start trouble, but said the security situation in the quake-struck Caribbean nation is stable. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T020631Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460147-10&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON/TEHRAN (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the international community was "moving along fairly quickly" toward imposing fresh sanctions on Iran, as the Islamic Republic further expanded its nuclear program. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T021806Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460094-4&sec=Worldupdates SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea's top nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing on Tuesday as Pyongyang said it was willing to step up talks with China on resuming stalled disarmament-for-aid talks. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T054002Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460412-1&sec=Worldupdates VILNIUS/RIGA (Reuters) - Moody's upgraded the outlook for Lithuania's debt rating recently, but that means nothing to people like Lijandra Garniene. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T053430Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460411-1&sec=Worldupdates NEW YORK (Reuters) - The father of an Afghan-born airport shuttle driver accused of plotting an al Qaeda-inspired bomb attack on New York City pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of conspiring to alter, destroy and conceal evidence. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-09T225426Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460320-2&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, reaching out to lawmakers in both U.S. political parties, said on Tuesday he hoped Congress would soon deliver a package of measures to boost U.S. employment and economic growth. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T040133Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460394-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia next week for talks that a U.S. official said on Tuesday would likely focus on Iran, Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T035328Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460392-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama gave his strongest signal yet that he is willing to compromise on key priorities in a step toward the center that raised pressure on Republicans to meet him halfway. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T034640Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460323-2&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alarmed that nearly a third of U.S. children are obese or overweight -- and likely to stay that way all their lives -- President Barack Obama launched an initiative on Tuesday to roll back the numbers and put his wife in charge of promoting it. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T042654Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460402-1&sec=Worldupdates LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown won a parliamentary vote on Tuesday on a proposal to change Britain's electoral system, but the plan will do little to boost his Labour Party's chances of staying in power. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-09T235421Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460334-1&sec=Worldupdates FLINT, Mich. (Reuters) - Guadalupe Alberto knew the route from her house on a residential street to the tiny grocery store she ran with her husband so well that her family jokes she could have driven it with her eyes closed. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-09T232012Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460303-3&sec=Worldupdates COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's president has dissolved parliament before legislative elections on April 8, a senior government official said on Tuesday, a day after a leading opposition figure was arrested on military offences. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T013330Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460361-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama sought common ground with Republicans on Tuesday on his top policy priorities of job creation and deficit reduction, winning hints of support in both areas but a rebuke on healthcare reform. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T012053Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460360-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House denied on Tuesday that its missile defense plans were an obstacle to reaching agreement on a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T011225Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460357-1&sec=Worldupdates VIENNA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Iran says it has begun work to enrich uranium to a higher level, adding to concerns that it wants to stockpile potential material for nuclear weapons. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T004757Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460353-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday a new push toward international sanctions against Iran is moving along fairly quickly and should be completed in the next few weeks. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T012055Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460359-1&sec=Worldupdates PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie visited earthquake victims in Haiti on Tuesday in her latest trip to help survivors of conflict and natural disaster as a goodwill envoy for a United Nations agency. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T012058Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460358-1&sec=Worldupdates WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Not again! Residents from Virginia to New York prepared for a major snowstorm that could bring 12 inches (30.5 cm) of snow just days after a blizzard dumped as much as 3 feet (90 cm) in some areas. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-09T231734Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460333-1&sec=Worldupdates BEIJING (Reuters) - Senior Chinese military officers have proposed that their country boost defence spending, adjust PLA deployments, and possibly sell some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-10T001804Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460310-2&sec=Worldupdates MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates said they received a $3.1 million ransom on Tuesday and had freed a Panama-flagged ship, the MV Al Khaliq, which they hijacked in October. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/worldupdates/2010-02-09T230326Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460321-2&sec=Worldupdates TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian court has confirmed a jail sentence of five years for a reformist former industries minister over his role in unrest that erupted after last year's disputed election, ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday.