WORLD

Toyota President Akio Toyoda said he believed North America chief Yoshimi Inaba was the logical choice to testify at the U.S. congressional hearings scheduled for later this month.

The purpose of the Obama administration's upcoming summit on healthcare is to find solutions to issues like soaring insurance premiums, not score political points against the Republicans, the White House insisted on Tuesday.

The cost of rebuilding impoverished Haiti after last month's catastrophic earthquake could reach nearly $14 billion (8.87 billion pounds), making it proportionately the most destructive natural disaster in modern times, economists at the Inter-American Development Bank said on Tuesday.

Belgian train drivers went on strike on Tuesday, a day after a rail crash that killed 18 people, increasing disruption to local and international services.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, boosted by firms involved in commodities as the euro rallied strongly against the dollar and commodities prices gained.

A high-profile corruption scandal involving Silvio Berlusconi's inner circle is denting the Italian prime minister's hopes of a sweeping victory in regional elections next month.

The Taliban's top military commander was captured in Pakistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials said on Tuesday, but the move may not deal a decisive blow to a group putting up fierce resistance to a NATO offensive in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama announced $8.3 billion in loan guarantees on Tuesday to build the first U.S. nuclear power plant in nearly three decades in a move designed to help advance climate legislation in Congress.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday talks were still going on over a proposed nuclear fuel swap and any country which tried to impose new sanctions on Iran would regret its actions.

Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday fixed February 25 for the inauguration of Viktor Yanukovich as president, even as rival Yulia Tymoshenko prepared to challenge his election in court.

China faces growing pressure from Western countries to back fresh sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear activities. Here are key facts about ties between China and Iran.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's approval rating has slipped in the past month while faith in opposition parties inched up ahead of regional elections in March, according to a poll published on Tuesday.

Many Iraqis released by U.S. forces after being detained for suspected links to Sunni insurgents have been killed by tribes seeking revenge or are being driven back into the arms of al Qaeda.

France deliberately exposed its soldiers to nuclear explosions in Algeria in the 1960s to study the effect of radiation on humans, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing confidential documents.

Pakistani lawyers for five young Americans accused of contacting militants over the Internet and plotting terrorist attacks sought their release on bail on Tuesday, saying the prosecution lacked evidence.

Iran would consider any new ideas on a proposed nuclear fuel swap with major powers, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday, after meeting his Turkish counterpart in Tehran.

Iraq is the country most at risk from terrorist attacks for the second straight year, according to a ranking by global analysts Maplecroft, while Thailand has joined the nine countries most in danger for the first time.

Indian police were questioning several people on Tuesday in connection with a bomb attack that killed 10 people in a western city after viewing closed-circuit television footage, officials said.

The Taliban's top military commander was captured in Pakistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials said on Tuesday, but the move may not deal a decisive blow to a group putting up fierce resistance to a NATO offensive.

North Korea celebrated leader Kim Jong-il's birthday on Tuesday with synchronised swimmers glorifying the kind-hearted father of the reclusive state while it made overtures for dialogue with its foe the United States.

A Haitian judge said on Monday he would deepen his inquiry into 10 American missionaries accused of kidnapping children following media reports that a legal adviser working with them was under investigation in El Salvador for suspected human trafficking.

The Taliban's top military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has been captured in Pakistan in a joint raid by Pakistani and U.S. spy agencies, a U.S. official said on Monday, confirming a report of the capture in The New York Times.

The use of full-body scanners at British airports may breach human rights laws, the country's equality commission said on Tuesday, potentially undermining the latest weapon against terrorism.

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh said Monday he will seek to contribute to society outside of politics once his U.S. Senate tenure ends in November, citing partisanship and narrow ideology in Congress as reasons to move on.

Two commuter trains crashed head-on near Brussels during the Monday morning rush hour killing 18 people.

Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana will not seek re-election this fall, a Democratic aide said on Monday, potentially adding to President Barack Obama's difficulty in pushing his initiatives through a balky Congress.

Setting up a European fund to help Greece is not a solution to Athens' debt problems, a German Finance Ministry spokesman said on Monday, dismissing an idea that has been discussed in Germany.

Greece faced down pressure from euro zone peers to step up budget cuts and stem a looming crisis in its debt markets on Monday, as the Brussels again questioned its past reporting of public finances.

U.S. Marines leading one of NATO's biggest offensives against the Taliban in the eight-year war are facing fierce resistance in some areas, including heavy gunfire, snipers and booby traps, U.S. officials said on Monday.