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Dutch demand explanation why Icesave bill not signed Tue Jan 5, 2010 6:50am EST. M, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The Dutch finance ministry said on Tuesday it will demand an immediate explanation from the Icelandic government, after the president of Iceland declined to sign a bill repaying Great Britain and the Netherlands for loans made following the collapse of online bank Icesave in 2008.

Top News. Iceland President Blocks U.K. Dutch Foreign Depositor Accord January 05, 2010, 06:29 AM EST Story Tools. President Olafur R. Grimsson blocked a depositor accord with the U.K. Netherlands that lawmakers passed last week, threatening to undermine the island’s efforts to repair international relations.

Obama defends war as he picks up Nobel Peace Prize. Barack Obama has said the US mustuphold moral standards when waging wars that are necessary andjustified, as he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize. Oslo, he defended the US role in Afghanistan,arguing the use of force could bring lasting peace.

Government andPolicy. Populationcontrol called key to dealBy Li Xing (China Daily)Updated: 2009-12-10 07:37.

Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day. POLITICO (Washington) - Bob Woodward's Monday-morning exclusive on a 66-page report from Gen. Chrystal to President Barack Obama about Afghanistan policy was a rite of passage for the new administration: the first major national security leak and a sure sign that the celebrated Washington Post reporter has penetrated yet another administration.

We can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world, and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities," Obama will say, according to a transcript posted Monday on the White House Web site.

Top News. Progressive Newswire. Eight months into it, it now seems pretty clear that the Obama administration is finished. There were some of us -- indeed, many of us, myself included -- who thought there was a possibility that Barack Obama might seize this moment of American crisis, twinned with the complete failure for all to see of the regressive agenda, to become the second coming of Franklin Roosevelt.

From The Times. May 29, 2009 The hidden massacre: Sri Lanka’s final offensive against Tamil Tigers. More than 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final throes of the Sri Lankan civil war, most as a result of government shelling, an investigation by The Times has revealed.

Mr Brown said the UK government had 'no control' over the decision Gordon Brown has said he was "repulsed" by the welcome given to the Lockerbie bomber on his return to Libya. In his first comments since the freeing of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, Mr Brown said he was "angry" about the jubilant scenes as he left the plane in Tripoli.

The UK has resumed day-to-day control of the Turks and Caicos islands amid ongoing allegations of widespread corruption in the British overseas territory, the Foreign Office said tonight. Local government in the islands, which lie 500 miles south-east of Florida in the Atlantic, will be suspended for up to two years while their affairs are put back in "good order", according to the FCO.

Governments hit by cyber attack. A widespread computer attack has hit several US government agencies while some South Korean government websites also appear to be affected. The White House, Defense Department and New York stock exchange were all hit by the attack that started on July 4.

Cyber attackers target South Korea and US South Korea sees presidential and bank websites paralysed as Pentagon and White House succeed in deflecting barrage. Staff at the Korea Internet Security Centre in Seoul. Photograph: Ahn Young-joon/AP. Ahn Jeong-eun, a spokeswoman for Korea Information Security Agency, said the websites of 11 organisations had either gone down or had access problems.

Korean websites 'attacked by North Korea' By Lim Chang-Won – 15 hours ago. South Korea's intelligence service believes North Korea or its sympathisers may have staged a major cyber attack that shut down US and South Korean websites, lawmakers were quoted saying Wednesday.

North Korea sentences two US journalists to 12 years in jail Women sent to labour camp after being found guilty of illegally entering country and committing 'grave crime' A North Korean court today sentenced two American journalists to 12 years' hard labour after finding them guilty of committing "hostile acts", in a move certain to raise tensions with the US.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says the Sajjil-2 is one of Iran's longest range rockets, able to reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf, and the launch is likely to be criticised by the West.

Because Obama has made it clear that health care is his top legislative priority, the $90 billion hole has become one of the biggest political issues of 2009. The Obama administration's health-care team is now preoccupied by it. On Tuesday, the Senate began to consider it, at a packed round-table discussion among 13 prominent health experts and members of the finance committee.