Jimmy Carter leads North Korea peace mission

Jimmy Carter, the former US president, has arrived in Pyongyang hoping to meet with North Korea's leader as part of a mission to discuss dangerous food shortages and stalled nuclear disarmament talks.

Carter was joined by Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president, Gro Brundtland, former Norwegian prime minister and Mary Robinson, former Irish president, for the three-day visit to North Korea, which started on Tuesday.

The former leaders were not told ahead of their trip who they would meet with, but said they hoped to see Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, and his son and heir apparent Kim Jong Un.

The mission comes as diplomats struggle to find a way to restart talks meant to persuade the North to abandon its atomic weapons ambitions.

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Syria: US orders partial embassy evacuation

The United States has ordered State Department family members and some non-emergency embassy personnel to leave Syria, citing the "uncertainty and volatility" of a crackdown on protesters.

The department also urged Americans to defer all travel to Syria and advised those already in the country to get out while commercial transportation is still available.

It said the embassy would remain open for limited services.

The move came as thousands of Syrian soldiers backed by tanks and snipers moved in to the southern city of Daraa and opened fire on civilians, killing at least 11 people, witnesses said.

Source: news.com.au

US troops killed in Afghan suicide blast

(AFP) – US soldiers have been killed in a suicide blast in southern Afghanistan's biggest city, Kandahar, along with an Afghan interpreter for the US military, police said Monday.

Khan Mohammad Mujahid, the provincial police chief for Kandahar, could not specify exactly how many troops died in the attack on the customs office in the city, which is seen as the birthplace of the Taliban.

But a spokesman for the international force in Afghanistan said he believed the number was "not high."

The attack is the latest in a string of bloody incidents to hit Kandahar, which has been the scene of a major anti-Taliban offensive by international troops.

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