TOP STORY: Velupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the Tamil Tiger rebellion, was reported killed today as the Sri Lankan government declared victory in Asia's longest-running civil war. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to formally announced the end of the 25-year war on Tuesday.
There had been reports that the remaining Tigers had been planning to commit mass suicide, but the rebels vowed to lay down their arms yesterday, saying that the fighting had reached its "bitter end" and that they did not want to give the government more excuses for killing Tamil civilians. The United Nations says that at least 7,000 have died since January.
The defeat is a stunning fall for the Tigers, who controlled a third of the island's territory as little as two years ago, but the rebels have previously vowed that if they lost the conventional war, they would return to their guerilla roots.
MUST READ: The New York Times looks at how the Obama administration's nuclear nonproliferation push may be at odds with its military support for Pakistan. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen said last week that Pakistan continues to add to is nuclear arsenal even as the Taliban advances.
Asia
- India's Congress Party is planning for the future after an unexpected landslide victory gave it control of parliament. The country's stock market was boosted by the Congress win.
- Maoist lawmakers stormed the Nepalese Parliament to prevent a vote on a new prime minister.
- The trial of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has begun in Yangon.
Middle East
- U.S. President Barack Obama will hold his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.
- Iraq has set January 30 as the date for its next national election, the first to be entirely organized by the Iraqis.
- Kuwait has elected a new parliament, including its first female parliamentarians.
Africa
- Rwanda's government says it will not participate in U.N. peace efforts in Eastern Congo until the Security Council cracks down on Hutu rebels.
- Chad's government says it has stopped airstrikes against Chadian rebels in Sudan.
- A Darfur rebel leader accused of war crimes will voluntarily appear before the International Criminal Court at the Hague.
Europe
- EU Commerce Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite has been elected as Lithuania's first woman president.
- Swine flu is dominating the agenda at the World Health Organization's annual meeting in Geneva.
- France's minister of economic recovery says his country is four months ahead of the rest of Europe's recovery efforts.
Americas
- Thousands of Guatemalans are demonstrating to demand the resignation of President Alvaro Colom.
- Dozens of prison guards have been detained in Mexico after 50 prisoners were able to escape without firing a shot.
- Venezuela's last anti-Chavez TV station is being investigated by the government and may be shut down.
Ishara S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images
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