North Korean premier arrives in China

North Korea Premier Kim Yong-Il arrived in China on Tuesday for a five-day visit that coincides with the 60th anniversary celebration of diplomatic ties between the two countries, state media said. The visit is the first for Kim, who was elected in 2007. He is not related to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, who controls the country’s military

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N. Ireland: Two more held over killing of officer

Police arrested two more men in connection with the killing of policeman Stephen Carroll in Northern Ireland last week, bringing the total number of people in custody to seven, the Police Service of Northern Ireland announced Monday. A 31-year-old man and a 27-year-old man were arrested Monday in Craigavon, the town where Carroll, 48, was shot dead a week earlier, the police statement said. Police have also recovered a gun and ammunition in connection with the killing, the first murder of a policeman in Northern Ireland since 1998.

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Iran’s Khatami won’t run for president, state news agency says

Iran’s moderate former president will not challenge President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the upcoming presidential election, the state-run Fars news agency said Monday. Mohammad Khatami said last month that he would run in June, ending weeks of speculation, the state-run IRNA news agency reported February 8. But he now says he will instead support moderate candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi, Fars reported Monday

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Leftist claims El Salvador presidency

Mauricio Funes, a member of a political party that waged guerrilla war against the government 17 years ago, has claimed the presidency of El Salvador. “This is the happiest night of my life,” Funes told a jubilant crowd at his election headquarters Sunday night. “It’s also the night of greatest hope for El Salvador.” The FMLN party’s Funes had 51.12 percent of the vote, while the ARENA party’s Rodrigo Avila had 48.87 percent with 84 percent of the national ballots counted, the electoral commission said on its Web site

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UK lawmakers aim to ‘force’ Hamas talks

A group of British politicians is trying to force the government in London to talk to Hamas, the militant Palestinian movement considered a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom, one of the politicians told CNN. Baroness Jenny Tonge, a member of the House of Lords, met the political leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, in Syria along with other British politicians on Saturday, she said.

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More arrests in N. Ireland over killings

Authorities in Northern Ireland say they have arrested three more people in the killings of two soldiers and a police officer in the province last week. A total of four people are now in custody over the killing of soldiers Cengiz “Pat” Azimkar, 21, and Mark Quinsey, 23, at the Massereene barracks March 7. Five people have been detained over the shooting of policeman Stephen Carroll, 48, in Craigavon on March 10.

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Nine bodies found in common grave near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Nine bodies have been found in a common grave in the desert south of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, according to Chihuahua state prosecutor’s spokeswoman Daniela Gonzalez. Investigators have yet to determine the identities of the seven men and two women found in the grave, Gonzalez said. They have not released information on how they were killed or how long they have been there.

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TSA to look at Vitter airport incident

The Transportation Security Administration is looking into a report that Louisiana Sen. David Vitter had an angry altercation with an airline worker at Washington Dulles International Airport last week. The agency is not doing a formal investigation, TSA spokesman Sterling Payne told CNN, but it is gathering information to determine if one is needed.

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