Daily International News
June 30, 2011
Northeast Asia
Japan
Japanese gov’t, DPJ agrees on doubling consumption tax by mid-2010s [Xinhua]
Toyota recalls 110,000 hybrid cars on safety concerns [BBC]
Koreas
Kim Jong-il’s Train Stops Short of Russian Border [Chosun]
N. Korea increases grain imports from China [Yonhap]
S. Korean pastor gets reduced sentence for illegal trip to N. Korea [Yonhap]
South is spurned on trip to Mt. Kumgang [JoongAng]
North Korean defector learns to live outside the world’s biggest prison [Guardian]
Football: Sweden out for second win against N. Korea [AFP]
China
U.N. rights boss raps China for not arresting Bashir [Reuters] and China bolsters economic ties with Sudan [Al Jazeera]
Amnesty Int’l: China crackdown on lawyers expands [AP]
China to celebrate CPC’s 90th birthday [Xinhua]
Philippine president to visit China in August [Kyodo]
Ai Weiwei Photography Exhibit: A Chinese Dissident Views New York [NYT]
China opens world’s longest sea bridge near Qingdao [BBC]
Taiwan unveils upgraded fighter jet [AP]
Taiwan ex-President Lee Teng-hui ’embezzled $7.8m’ [BBC]
China raises income tax threshold [BBC]
Southeast Asia/Pacific
Japan to offer aid to improve living standards of Myanmar people [Kyodo]
Burma: Australian publisher Ross Dunkley convicted [BBC]
Yeoh ‘saddened’ by deportation from Myanmar [AP]
U.N.-backed court concludes hearing on 4 Khmer Rouge leaders [Kyodo]
Saudi Arabia bars Indonesia and Philippines workers [BBC]
Three British students killed in Thailand coach crash [BBC]
South/Central Asia
Nato ‘kills senior Haqqani militant in Afghanistan’ [BBC]
Obama weighed military, political risk for Afghan plan [Reuters]
Pakistan stops US from using ‘drone base’ [Al Jazeera]
French journalists held hostage by Taliban return home [BBC]
Bangladesh abolishes caretaker gov’t for elections [AP]
Middle East
Indictments issued in Hariri death probe [Al Jazeera]
U.S. Monthly Combat Deaths in Iraq at 3-Year High [NYT]
Strategic Site Is Captured by Militants in Yemen [NYT]
Bahrain halts military-style trials for protesters [AP]
Africa
Egypt police clash with youths; over 1,000 hurt [Reuters]
U.S. hifts to closer contact with Egypt Islamists [Reuters]
Morocco prepares for vote on king’s powers [Al Jazeera]
NATO says not involved in arms aid to Libya rebels [Reuters]
Spain: al-Qaida possibly buying Libyan war weapons [AP]
NATO Airstrike Kills Militant Leader Linked to Kabul Hotel Attack [VOA]
Libyan crisis tops agenda of AU summit in Equatorial Guinea [Xinhua]
Rival Sudan forces to quit border ahead of independence [BBC]
Europe
Greece clears final hurdle to get bailout funds [AP]
Rebel Greek MP votes against part of austerity bill [Reuters]
Sarkozy involved in scuffle during handshake tour [Reuters]
Putin says Russia will expand presence in Arctic [AP]
UK public sector strike hits services and schools [BBC]
Jellyfish force Torness nuclear reactor shutdown in UK [BBC]
Western Hemisphere [non-US]
Venezuela suspends summit over Hugo Chavez’s illness [BBC]
U.S. Drops Deportation Proceedings Against Immigrant in Same-Sex Marriage [NYT]
William, Kate off to Canada, US in first tour [AP]
Domestic
Senate cancels July 4 recess [POLITICO]
Dysfunctional Congress ‘worse’ than ever? [POLITICO]
GOP governors huddle on 2012 race [POLITICO]
TIME’s Halperin apologizes for calling Obama ‘a dick’ [POLITICO]
Minn. braces for government shutdown [AP]
Suspected Tucson gunman can be forced to take antipsychotic drugs, judge rules [LAT]
Bill to Aid Farm Workers Union Is Vetoed [NYT]
Nigerian flies from NY to DC with invalid pass [AP]
Birthers Sue Esquire Over Parody, Seeking More than $200 Million [Forbes]