EIJING/WASHINGTON – U.S. President Barack Obama still  plans to meet the Dalai Lama, the White House said yesterday,  despite China’s warning that such a meeting would hurt ties  already strained by U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.
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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s advisers told  Congress yesterday it would have to take measures beyond  Obama’s $3.8 trillion budget proposal to cut stubborn deficits  as the president headed to New Hampshire to pitch job creation  plans to a recession-weary public.
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WASHINGTON – White House economic adviser Paul Volcker  urged Congress yesterday to rein in risky investing by big  banks to prevent them from becoming “too big to fail.”
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UNITED NATIONS – The United States and three European  powers hope to blacklist Iran’s central bank and firms linked  to the Revolutionary Guard Corps in a new round of U.N.  sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program, diplomats said.

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JERUSALEM – A senior Hamas leader said yesterday indirect  talks with Israel on a prisoner exchange had collapsed and  blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for hardening Israeli  terms.
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SANAA – Yemen’s northern Shi’ite rebels said yesterday  they were open to a prisoner swap with neighbouring Saudi  Arabia if Riyadh was committed to peace, but said the kingdom  had carried out more air strikes against them.
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ABUJA – Nigeria’s main militant group, revitalized by  growing frustration over the government’s lack of leadership,  has the manpower, weaponry and local support to disrupt much of  the Niger Delta’s onshore oil operations.
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BRUSSELS – The European Union and the United States are  likely to scrap plans to hold a summit in Madrid in May because  U.S. President Barack Obama has decided not to attend, EU  diplomats said on Tuesday.
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SEOUL – North and South Korea have been secretly trying to  set up a summit by mid-year, news reports said yesterday, but  the South insisted the destitute North would not be offered any  payment as an enticement.