TOP STORY: North Korea continued its provocations by firing a short-range missile off its east coast today. It is the sixth such test since the country's nuclear test on Monday. The U.S. and South Korean militaries have raised the alert level for the peninsula as North Korea announced it will no longer respect the disputed western sea border between the two countries. The U.N. Security Council's five permanent powers, plus South Korea and Japan, have begun work on a resolution condemning North Korea's test.
At the same time, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that a U.S. military buildup in the region would be unnecessary and that diplomatic measures were still the best option. "I don't think that anybody in the administration thinks there is a crisis," Gates said.
UNDER THE RADAR: A new report from the Global Humanitarian Forum calls climate change a "silent crisis" that is already killing 300,000 people every year.
Asia
- An investigation by Britain's Times concluded that more than 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed during the final days of Sri Lanka's offensive against the Tamil Tigers.
- Pakistani police have arrested suspected Taliban militants among the refugees fleeing the fighting in Swat Valley.
- Thousands of Koreans came out to pay their final respects to former president Roh Moo-Hyun, who committed suicide last week.
Middle East
- Iran has blamed the U.S. for a deadly mosque bombing that killed 20 people in the country's southeast.
- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted Egyptian pro-democracy campaigners at the State Department and urged the Egyptian regime to respect human rights.
- Months after Israeli troops left, Gaza is still largely cut off from aid and the area's poverty is growing desperate.
Americas
- President Obama will give a speech announcing the creation of a cyber-security office at the White House today.
- Despite warnings from the Venezuelan government, visiting author Mario Vargas Llosa gave a speech in Caracas saying that the country was moving toward a Cuba-like dictatorship.
- Armed smugglers took 60 Haitian migrants hostage before they were to be apprehended by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Africa
- Sudanese government troops have retaken control of a town near the Chadian border from rebels.
- African ministers called for more funding to combat climate change, saying that they contribute little to the process but suffer disproportionately from its effects.
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu pressed for more support for Zimbabwe's unity government, saying the country had become "hell on earth."
Europe
- With U.S. officials in attendance Russia opened a new facility to destroy chemical weapons.
- Several policemen were beaten and stabbed by anti-government protesters in Georgia.
- Even if the U.S. does not move ahead with a missile defense shield in eastern Europe, Poland is still pushing hard to have a battery of Patriot missiles stationed in the country.
JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images
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