Iraq
Violence in Iraq has declined substantially since its peak in 2006-2007, but attacks remain common. Gunmen wearing military uniforms and suicide bomb belts stormed a local government headquarters in northern Iraq on Tuesday in an attempt to take hostages that killed at least 58 people. Three lawmakers who were inside the Salahuddin provincial council building in Tikrit when the gunmen overran the compound are missing, said provincial governor Ahmed Abdullah. He said the lawmakers were not answering their mobile phones and could not immediately be located indicating they may be held hostage. He described a fierce shootout between at least eight gunmen, who have overtaken the council headquarters second floor, and Iraqi security forces who surrounded the building. He said the attackers were hurling grenades at Iraqi forces. Police immediately imposed a curfew to prevent all road and pedestrian traffic in Tikrit as security forces moved into the building. The senior intelligence official said forces began an operation to free any hostages about two hours after the start of the siege.
Yemen
Yemen's political crisis deepened on Tuesday as President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to step down in the face of mounting desertions by his supporters and officials said the government had lost control of six of the country's 18 provinces. Saleh told a meeting today that he would not step down as 95% of the Yemenis backed his call for a unified Yemen and instead it should be his opponents, who should leave the country, Al Arabia channel reported. The President's refusal comes as the death toll in the massive blast and fire at an ammunition plant in south Yemen shot up to 150 and transition of power talks remained stalled. "95 bodies have been identified and many others were burnt beyond recognition," Mohsin Salem, a local government official in the Abyan province said, adding that the province where the incident had happened has been seized by the al Qaeda cadres. Yemeni official said, in recent days government forces has abandoned their force across the country, including areas where northern rebels have challenged the military and southern provinces where al Qaeda's Arabian branch has maintained sanctuaries. The collapse of the authority was acknowledged by the President himself, who told a committee from his political party that "six of the Yemen's 18 provinces had fallen". Saleh said the country was being ripped apart as he hardened his public stance declaring he would make no more concessions. The Yemeni strongman, who has been in power for the last 32 years has moved away from a dialogue with opposition mediated by American diplomats and Saudi Arabia. The opposition parties today released a statement saying that the ammunition factory blast had occurred as Saleh had withdrawn his military and security and allowed al Qaeda armed groups to take over. The President has also been rebuffed by his long time ally Saudi Arabia and Riyadh has turned down his SoS to send troops to Yemen on the pattern of Bahrain.
Syria
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is to address the nation Wednesday in his first speech in two weeks of unprecedented dissent and one day after his cabinet resigned, a senior official said. "The president will address the country tomorrow Wednesday from parliament," the official told AFP, without giving further details. The news came shortly after Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri tendered his government's resignation and was tasked with acting in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed. The president is expected to elaborate on a string of reforms announced last week, which came in response to two weeks of protests demanding reform and more freedoms in the country ruled by the Baath party since 1963. Presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban has told AFP the state decided to lift the state of emergency, which has been in force since the Baath seized power. Syrian authorities are also studying the liberalisation of laws on media and political parties as well as anti-corruption measures. The new cabinet, which is expected to be announced by the end of the week, will face the task of implementing the reforms. Otri had formed his government in 2003. It was reshuffled several times, most recently in October 2010. Assad, who rose to power after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000, is facing extreme pressure at home as the protests turn increasingly violent. Syrian authorities have accused fundamentalists and "armed gangs" of aiming to incite unrest in the country, particularly in the southern governorate of Daraa and the northern port city of Latakia which have emerged as the focal points of dissent. Small demonstrations demanding "freedom" also surfaced in the capital Damascus earlier this month, but were immediately quelled by security forces. Activists say more than 130 people have been killed and scores injured in clashes with security forces at the Daraa and Latakia rallies. Officials have put the death toll at around 30.
Italy
The immigration crisis facing Italy deepened on Tuesday as more boats arrived from North Africa. Thousands of migrants have poured into Lampedusa in small boats since the overthrow of former Tunisian President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali in January loosened previously tight frontier controls that blocked the way into Europe. The quiet tourist island s normal population of 5,000 is now outnumbered by thousands of North African men living in improvised tent encampments on the hillsides and waiting to be taken to the mainland. In Lampedusa, the tiny island south of Sicily that has borne the brunt of the crisis, residents occupied the town hall and threatened to shut down supplies and services unless thousands of illegal migrants were moved off in the next day.
Thailand
Serious flooding in Thailand's south has left at least seven people dead, authorities said on Tuesday, as the country was struck by unseasonably cold weather. Almost one million people have been affected by the heavy downpours across the southern region, according to a statement from the department of disaster prevention and mitigation. Since the rains began six days ago, six people have died in Nakhon Si Thammarat -- the hardest hit province -- and one in Phatthalung, the statement said. Deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said it was difficult to help flood victims due to the severe weather, including strong winds. "As soon as visibility returns to normal, the southern army regional headquarters will airlift necessary supplies to those who are stranded, and evacuate patients," he told reporters. Trains have been cancelled and airports closed in the region, including on the popular resort island of Samui, and emergency disaster zones have been declared in 63 districts across seven provinces. The cold snap has also spelt trouble for tourism, with 600 tourists unable to leave Samui owing to cancelled flights on Monday, and the airport still closed on Tuesday, the airport operator said. Devastating flooding across Thailand late last year left more than 220 people dead, damaging the homes or livelihoods of an estimated 8.6 million people in 51 of the kingdom's 76 provinces.
Japan
As a result of Japan's nuclear crisis, government regulators are reviewing a wide range of issues potentially affecting the 104 U.S. nuclear reactors, including their ability to protect against natural disasters and terrorist attacks, respond to complete power blackouts and cope with accidents involving spent fuel. A top official with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says a 90-day review, ordered by President Barack Obama, will include recommendations for possible changes to inspection procedures, licensing review and emergency communications. Bill Borchardt, the NRC's executive director for operations, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday that U.S. nuclear plants continue to operate safely. He said progress is being made at Japan's damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, but could not guess how long it will take to bring the plant under control.
Libya
World powers agreed Tuesday that Moammar Gadhafi should step down after 42 years as Libya's ruler but did not discuss arming the rebels who are seeking to oust him. Top diplomats from up to 40 countries, the United Nations, NATO and the Arab League came to that conclusion Tuesday at crisis talks in London on the future of the North African nation. "One thing is quite clear and has to be made very clear to Gadhafi: His time is over. He must go," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement. "We must destroy his illusion that there is a way back to business as usual if he manages to cling to power." British Foreign Secretary William Hague, however, told reporters the subject of arming rebels simply did not come up. "That was not one of the subjects for discussion," Hague said. "That was not raised at the conference and it was not on the agenda for discussion." Hague's comments suggest that the U.N.-backed coalition cobbled together to defend civilians from Gadhafi's onslaught is still hanging back from throwing its entire weight behind the ill-organized rebels, whose exact makeup and motives remain unclear. But Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jabr al-Thani seemed to leave the door open to arms sales when he suggested that the issue might be revisited if the aerial campaign fell short of its stated goal of protecting Libyan civilians. "We have to evaluate the airstrike after a while to see if it's effective," he said. "We are not inviting any military ground (troops) ... but we have to evaluate the situation because we cannot let the people suffer for so long, you know, we have to find a way to stop this bloodshed." Qatar, which has recognized the rebels as Libya's legitimate representatives, also plans to help them sell crude on the international market. Yet while there has been talk of using Qatar to market Libya's oil for days, details have remained thin on the ground. Libya's production relies on joint ventures with foreign companies, like Italy's Eni SpA, that have evacuated employees from the country, and it's unclear how or when Qatar could help restart the country's now-paralyzed energy industry. Still even the possibility of renewed oil sales from Libya would affect the markets. While diplomats repeated their appeals for Gadhafi to leave Libya, there were few signs that the international community planned to apply any additional pressure on the Libyan ruler. Diplomats are considering more sanctions on Gadhafi associates to send a clear message to Gadhafi that he cannot attack civilians with impunity, Hague said. He said the possible new sanctions will be pursued in the United Nations and regional organizations, but did not elaborate. Britain, Germany, the U.S. and Switzerland have already moved to freeze assets belonging to Gadhafi and the Libyan government. In his speech opening the conference, Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain had received reports that Gadhafi was pounding Misrata, the main rebel holdout in the west, with attacks from land and sea, and relentlessly targeting civilians. "The reason for being here is because the Libyan people cannot reach that future on their own," Cameron said. "We are all here in one united purpose, that is to help the Libyan people in their hour of need." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the international community must support calls for democracy sweeping Libya and its neighbours, but warned that change would not be easily won.
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