I.N.N. World Report

More than half of Chinese people questioned in a recent poll believe China and America are heading for a new “cold war.” The finding came after battles over Taiwan, Tibet, trade, climate change, internet freedom and human rights, issues that have poisoned relations in the three months since Barack Obama visited Beijing. According to diplomatic sources, a rancorous postmortem examination is under way in the US government, led by officials who think Obama was badly advised and made to appear weak. In China’s eyes, the US response, which included a pledge by Obama to get tougher on trade, was a reaction against its rising power. An independent survey of Chinese-language media for The UK Sunday Times found army and navy officers are predicting a military showdown and political leaders are calling for China to sell more arms to America’s enemies. They are angry at Obama’s decision to sell $6.4 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan.

Haiti - Still Starving 23 Days Later

Following the Haiti earthquake that killed over 200,000 people, one million people have still not received any international food aid. The UN World Food Program reported they had given some food to over a million people. About 10,000 families are in tents, the rest are living under sheets, blankets and tarps. Read more

US mercenary 'abducted in Iraq'

An Iraqi Shia faction tied to Iran has released a video showing a man being held captive, believed to be US military contractor Issa Salomi, missing since January 23. In the video, Salomi read the group's demands for the release of detainees and called for the conviction of Blackwater employees, accused of killing unarmed Iraqi citizens in 2007.

Pakistan city mourns 33 killed in twin bomb attacks:

In Pakistan, thousands of people have attended a funeral in Karachi for 33 people who died in bomb attacks.

'Syria to back Lebanon in case of Israeli attack'

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Sunday Damascus would stand by Beirut, should Israel launch another war against Lebanon.

Palestinians battle Israeli wall

Palestinians and Israeli dissenters are getting together to fight Israel's plan to build another section of the wall separating Israel and the occupied West Bank. Environmentalists say the wall threatens to dry out much of the Palestinian land. They also see the wall - illegal under international law - as a part of long-term Israeli policy to grab more Palestinian land in the West Bank. Read more

Israeli warships on way to Persian Gulf

Egyptian maritime sources reported Saturday the Israeli navy has deployed two missile ships to the Persian Gulf. The ships are expected to reach the Persian Gulf by Monday.

Russia for nuke strikes against potential aggressors

In Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev signed country’s new military doctrine which allows preventive nuclear strikes against potential aggressors. Read more

UN likely to refer Goldstone findings to The Hague

The UN is likely to refer the findings of the Goldstone report to the International Court of Justice. A decision to bring the report on last year's Gaza war before the court would follow a debate in the UN General Assembly. In the report, retired South African Judge Richard Goldstone accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes. Read more

US fights for access to EU bank data

The US government has initiated a diplomatic offensive against threatened moves by the European Parliament to block a deal that gives US intelligence agencies direct access to European bank data.

Unlawful anti-terror powers planned for use during 2012 Olympics

UK police are planning to use an anti-terror law deemed unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights during the London Olympics. The powers would enable police to stop and search members of the public without suspicion. Police claim the anti-terror law would be used only in the event of an escalated terror threat.

Bayer to pay $1.5 million in lawsuit over GM rice

Germany's Bayer was ordered by a US jury to pay $1.5 million in damages to three US farmers for losses they incurred because of contaminations of Bayer's genetically modified rice. A rice variety not approved for commercial cultivation was found in the food supply chain in August 2006. As a result, Japan and the EU restricted U.S. rice from crossing their borders, leading to extensive losses incurred by U.S. rice farmers. Read more

China to levy anti-dumping duties on US chicken

**China will levy heavy anti-dumping duties on U.S. chicken products, a move likely to aggravate trade relations and antagonize one of the few U.S. industries that profitably exports to China. The US and China are engaged in a series of trade disputes, mainly over the value of the Chinese currency. Barack Obama has vowed to get tough in dealing with complaints that U.S. exports are at a disadvantage. Read more

Nigerian militants attack Shell oil pipeline

Nigerian militants called the Joint Revolutionary Council said Sunday they had attacked a major Shell oil pipeline in the Niger Delta, disabling the trunk line belonging to Shell. A key demand of the militants is that local communities benefit from the region's oil wealth.

Costa Rica elects 1st woman president in landslide

Costa Ricans elected their first female president Sunday, Center-right politician Laura Chinchilla, who served as vice president under current President Oscar Arias. Critics of the Arias government say it catered to big developers to boost the economy at the cost of the nation's fragile ecosystems. Read more

Arctic sea ice vanishing faster than 'our most pessimistic models'

The lead investigator in Canada’s largest-ever climate-change study has found sea ice in Canada’s fragile Arctic is melting faster than anyone expected. University of Manitoba Prof. David Barber said the Arctic could, in a worst-case scenario, be ice-free in three years.

Bob Barker Rammed by Illegal Whaler

The Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru 3 rammed the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker, penetrating its hull and endangering the lives of its crew180 miles off Cape Darnley in the Australian Antarctic Territory. The Bob Barker had been blocking the slipway of the Nisshin Maru, the Japanese whaling fleet’s factory ship.

NATIONAL NEWS:

General-aviation security plan is being scaled back

The Transportation Security Administration is preparing to scale back a controversial plan to expand aviation security rules for thousands of private planes. TSA officials said they expect to issue a revised plan that will significantly reduce the number of U.S.-registered general-aviation aircraft subjected to tougher rules. Instead of mandating that all passengers aboard private planes be checked against terrorist watch lists, name checks in many cases could be left to pilots’ discretion..

Five killed in Connecticut power plant blast

Five people were killed and 12 injured in a gas explosion Sunday at an under-construction power plant in Middletown, a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut.

Study links sugary soft drinks to pancreas cancer

Researchers in Singapore reported Monday people who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer. People who drank mostly fruit juice instead did not have the same risk. Read more

Rep. John Murtha, Iraq war critic, dies at 77

Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, who became an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, has died aged 77. He had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. Murtha wielded considerable clout as leader of the House subcommittee overseeing Pentagon spending. But frustration over the Iraq war led him to call for an immediate pullout of U.S. troops in 2005.