WORLD IN BRIEF

U.N. human rights resolution joined

South Korea is co-sponsoring a U.N. resolution condemning North Korea’s alleged human rights abuses for the first time, a Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday. The move by the government of conservative new President Lee Myung-bak represents a clear departure from a decade of liberal rule during which the South largely avoided taking a stand on the issue for fear it would strain ties with the North and hurt efforts to resolve the nuclear standoff. Meanwhile, the South warned a new North Korean missile launch site under construction on North Korea’s west coast is designed to fire rockets even more advanced than those already capable of reaching the western U.S. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told parliament that construction on the new site is about 80 percent complete.

Arms, oil deal may be in Gadhafi plans

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko called for greater military and energy cooperation with Libya as he courted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was making his last stop on a three-nation tour of former Soviet republics. Gadhafi’s visits to Ukraine, Belarus and Russia appeared aimed at spurring Western competition for arms and energy deals, but neither he nor Yushchenko would say whether they had reached a formal deal on arms or on oil and gas supplies.

NATO commander calls threat fantasy

The commander of NATO’s naval forces called Iranian threats to close a strategic Persian Gulf waterway a fantasy. Italian Navy Vice Adm. Maurizio Gemignani, visiting the oil-rich Gulf state of Kuwait to promote military cooperation, said international passages such as the Strait of Hormuz, through about 40 percent of the world’s oil passes, cannot be closed down. Iran has warned that it would close the strait if the United States attacks it over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Shipping expansion shows spot less hot

Taiwan and China set aside decades of hostilities Tuesday and agreed to drastically expand flights and allow shipping links across the Taiwan Strait, a potential hotspot that has long threatened to become a war zone. The historic deal highlighted the dramatic improvement in relations in the past half-year between the rivals, which split amid a bloody civil war in 1949, but they still appeared to be a long way from resolving the root causes of their conflict. The envoys agreed Tuesday to hold high-level talks every six months and focus on building closer financial ties in the next round of meetings.

Officials punished after WWII denials

Japan’s Defense Ministry punished several top officials for failing to supervise an air force chief fired after claiming his country was not an aggressor in World War II and was tricked into involvement by the United States. Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and three other senior officials will take partial pay cuts and two bureaucrats were reprimanded over the essay by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami, the ministry said.

Dismissal a blow to Ahmadinejad

Iran’s Parliament voted to dismiss a top minister on Tuesday, in a setback for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just eight months before the next presidential election. The dismissal of Interior Minister Ali Kordan in an attempted bribery scandal means Ahmadinejad now must submit his whole Cabinet to a vote of confidence before Parliament, which is becoming increasingly assertive as Ahmadinejad struggles to cope with a growing economic crisis.

Pirates demand ransom for ship

The Yasa Holding company, owner of a Turkish ship commandeered off Somalia last week with 20 crew members aboard, said pirates have demanded a ransom for its return. The amount was not disclosed. The International Maritime Bureau says at least 77 ships have been attacked in African waters this year. Thirty-one ships have been hijacked, and 10 remain in the hands of pirates along with nearly 200 crew members.

Commuter ferry overturns, 40 die

A ferry packed with commuters that was buffeted by sudden monsoon winds and huge waves overturned Tuesday shortly after leaving port in central Masbate island in the Philippines, killing at least 40 people including 11 children. The army said 76 people were rescued from the Don Dexter Cathlyn, whose manifest listed 119 passengers and a crew of six on board.

Bin Laden son asks asylum for ‘peace’

A son of Osama bin Laden who grabbed headlines by marrying a British woman last year has requested asylum in Spain. Omar Osama bin Laden, 27, a metals trader who had been living in Cairo, Egypt, with his wife, has not renounced his father, but has said he wants to be an “ambassador for peace” between the Muslim world and the West. He arrived in Madrid on Monday, traveling on a Saudi passport, and remained at the airport Tuesday while Spain’s Interior Ministry considered his asylum request.

Papal forum joins Catholics, Muslims

In a bid to improve strained Catholic-Muslim relations, the Vatican welcomed scholars, imans and clerics from both religions Tuesday to a three-day forum intended to help the two faiths find common ground. The Vatican said the first day was dedicated to “spiritual and theological fundamentals” of the two religions, and the second will focus on “human dignity and mutual respect.” The presence of an archbishop from Iraq suggested that violence targeting Christians in Iraq and other countries also could be on the agenda.