A roundup of today's other world stories in brief:
Britain 'has duty to spread democracy'
OXFORD- Mistakes made in Iraq and Afghanistan should not deter Britain from exercising its moral duty to spread democracy, by military means where necessary, its foreign secretary, David Miliband, said yesterday.
Mr Miliband, who visits China this month, also said China's economic rise meant "we can no longer take the forward march of democracy for granted".
The speech will be viewed as a sign Britain does not aim to retreat from Tony Blair's assertive foreign policy, in which he sent British troops abroad five times.
- (Reuters)
US plan to enlarge anti-missile shield
WASHINGTON- The United States hopes to put a third major anti-missile component in Europe along with those under negotiation with Poland and the Czech Republic to counter Iran, the general building a multibillion-dollar shield said yesterday.
The previously unannounced third leg in Europe involves a highly mobile X-band radar station. It would be closer to Iran, which is speeding efforts to build ballistic missiles, said Air Force Lt Gen Henry Obering, head of the Pentagon's Missile Defence Agency.
The powerful, "forward based" radar system would possibly be in Turkey, the Caucasus or the Caspian Sea region, Lt Gen Obering told a defence technology conference.
- (Reuters)
Sudan raids burn Darfur towns
KHARTOUM- A major assault by the Sudanese army and allied militia has left two Darfur towns badly damaged by fire, sources close to a UN reconnaissance mission to the region said yesterday.
The news came as the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed one of its staff members had been killed in the offensive. Aid group MSF Switzerland said a small number of its staff had gone missing after the attacks.
- (Reuters)
Sex offenders face Facebook ban
NEW YORK- New York City prosecutors on Tuesday endorsed the United States' first proposed law to ban registered sex offenders from social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, officials said.
The district attorneys from all five of the city's boroughs announced their support for New York state attorney general Andrew Cuomo's proposal, which would ban thousands of the state's sex offenders from communicating with minors online.
- (Reuters)
Scores killed in Sri Lanka clashes
COLOMBO- The Sri Lankan military and sources close to Tamil Tiger rebels reported scores of deaths among each other's forces in battles in the north of the island on Tuesday.
The fighting was the latest in a 25-year-old civil war, as the military tries to overrun the separatist Tigers' northern stronghold and the two sides exchange heavy artillery fire.
Government forces said rebel artillery killed six Sri Lankan soldiers on Tuesday while government troops killed 48 rebels.
- (Reuters)
Diary chronicles man's starvation
ANOVER- An unemployed German chronicled his suicide by starvation in a diary after withdrawing to a hunter's hide in the countryside near Hanover, police said yesterday.
The 58-year-old man's body was found on Friday by two hunters almost a month after the last entry on December 13th, a police spokesman said.
The man had suffered a broken marriage, was estranged from his daughter and had had his unemployment benefit stopped.
The diary, which detailed 24 days the man spent without eating, will be passed on to his daughter.
- (Reuters)