Reuters World News Highlights

PARIS/NEW YORK – Citigroup Inc is in talks that could see the US government boost its stake, a source told Reuters yesterday, as governments and financial firms in Japan, France and elsewhere announced fresh capital raising.
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SEOUL –
North Korea, which has warned the Korean peninsula is on the brink of war, has deployed new missiles to hit more parts of Asia and improved its ability to attack the South, a South Korean defence paper said.
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MOGADISHU – Somalia’s hardline Islamist insurgent movement al Shabaab pledged to stage further attacks against African peacekeepers after the deadliest strike yet killed at least 11 soldiers from Burundi.
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ISLAMABAD – John Solecki, an American kidnapped in Pakistan while working for a UN refugee agency, was still alive, a spokesman for the separatist group holding him said yesterday after media reports that he had been killed.
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WASHINGTON – Just a month into his presidency, Barack Obama has had to deal with everything from Cabinet missteps that have strained his “no-drama Obama” image to an economic crisis that seems to worsen by the day.
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TOKYO – Almost four out of five Japanese voters want Prime Minister Taro Aso to quit within months and just over half want the opposition to win power, a poll showed yesterday, the latest bad news for the ruling party in an election year.
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COLOMBO –
Tamil Tiger rebels told the UN and international community yesterday that they are willing to accept a ceasefire with the Sri Lankan government, as Asia’s longest-running civil war may be nearing an end.
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MOSCOW –
Russia will respond to any attempts to militarise the Arctic, the head of the country’s armed forces was quoted as saying during a visit to Abu Dhabi.