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- EU is closer to backing UN sanctions on Iran
After a meeting with European Union foreign ministers, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says that the EU is open to more talks to end a standoff with Iran over its nuclear program -- and that the UN Security Council is close to clearing a new package of sanctions against Iran. Ashton was scheduled to meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday to discuss Turkey's offer to mediate talks between Iran and the West. Turkey, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, has resisted European calls for new sanctions. Reuters (5/10)        | - A new report maps childhood mortality
Nearly half of the deaths of all children aged 5 or younger occur in five countries -- China, Nigeria, India, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Pakistan. Two-thirds of those deaths are caused by infectious diseases, including malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea. The news comes via a report prepared on behalf of WHO and UNICEF that was recently released in the medical journal The Lancet. Bloomberg Businessweek/Health Day News (5/12)  | - EU commissioner backs steep carbon cuts
Noting that China is investing 10 times as much as Europe in building a less carbon-intensive economy, European climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard is pressing for a unilateral 30% cut to European Union carbon emissions. Hedegaard is set to unveil research showing the economic effects of the expanded cuts and the costs of not taking advantage of the global economic recession -- which makes achieving carbon cuts much cheaper than they were when they were originally proposed in 2007. BBC (5/11) - Pope addresses sexual abuse crisis directly
In his most public comments on the sexual abuse scandal that has recently delivered a blow to the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI said that forgiveness could not come at the cost of justice. Describing the sexual abuse scandal that has swept Europe, the U.S. and South America as "truly terrifying," the pope placed blame on highly placed Catholic Church figures who have done little to root out abusive priests. The New York Times (free registration) (5/11) - French lawmakers pass anti-veil resolution
A nonbinding resolution passed by French legislators clears the way for a draft law that would make full veils illegal in public places. Some 434 lawmakers voted for the bill, and the rest abstained. "The freedom of women is what brings us here ... Have we the choice (to say no) when the symptoms of the regression of women are in the streets?" asked UMP legislator Nicole Ameline. Google/The Associated Press (5/11)  | - A coalition government takes over in the U.K.
The Tories ended 13 years of Labour rule after the Conservative Party agreed to a power-sharing deal with the Liberal Democrats, whose leader, Nicholas Clegg, would become deputy prime minister under new Prime Minister David Cameron. Though former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered to resign in an effort to ease the way for a coalition between the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats, in the end Clegg chose a compromise that offered a somewhat milder schedule of electoral reforms than his party had asked for. The ruling coalition agreed to a five-year, fixed-term government. Google/The Associated Press (5/12) - End of de-Baathification marks progress in long Iraqi elections
Iraqi politicians agreed to an effort to put an end to a four-month De-Baathification campaign to root out politicians with ties to former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, a decision that removes a significant obstacle to progress toward a coalition government. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said that the political impasse was leading to the destabilization of the security situation in Iraq, where 100 people were killed and more than 300 injured in a deadly wave of assassinations and attacks on Monday. The end of the campaign would seem to pave the way to a coalition government led by Allawi, though a recount in Baghdad continues. TIME (5/11) , The New York Times (free registration) (5/11) - Red Shirts agree to deal to vacate camps for fall elections
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva proposed a deal that would bring elections to Thailand in November in exchange for the dismantling of camps where protesters have staged standing demonstrations for two months -- a deal that protesters have accepted. Though the Red Shirts asked the government to meet a series of demands before they began retreating from their camps in Bangkok, it appears that the protesters' leadership have assented to the bargain. Some protesters have signaled that they will refuse to leave, sparking concerns that a split might continue the unrest. The New York Times (free registration) (5/10) - Egypt extends emergency laws
Egypt's parliament approved a two-year extension of the government's emergency laws enacted after the assassination of President Anwar el-Sadat in 1981. Egypt's government resolved to include new legal restrictions as a safeguard for civil rights -- a move seen as an acknowledgment of the public's dissatisfaction with laws that stifle dissent and provide for indefinite detentions. The New York Times (free registration) (5/11) , The Christian Science Monitor (5/11) - North Korea claims nuclear breakthrough
North Korean state media reported that scientists had produced nuclear fusion, in a step toward building a thermonuclear power device. Unless North Korea produces evidence of the breakthrough, the scientific community is likely to regard the claim as fraudulent. BBC (5/12) - Philippines elect corruption foe with familiar name
Benigno Aquino III -- the son of former Philippines President Corazon Aquino -- pledged to root out the corruption. Aquino leads the nine-candidate presidential race with more than 40% of the vote, with his closest challenger, ousted President Joseph Estrada, winning just 26%. Despite political violence that claimed 12 lives in the run-up to the election, turnout among the nation's 50 million people has reached 75%. The Guardian (London)/The Associated Press (5/11)
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