SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea's new president Park Geun-hye urged No rth Korea on Monday to abandon its nuclear ambitions, and to stop wasting its scarce resources on arms development, less than two weeks after the country carried out its third nuclear test. Park, 61, the daughter of South Korea's former military ruler Park Chung-hee, is the first female president of prosperous South Korea and one of her campaign promises was to engage with the North if it halted its nuclear weapons plans. … Cuba's Diaz-Canel rose gradually to No. 2 post
HAVANA (AP) -- The man tapped as the likely heir-apparent to Raul Castro is largely unknown off the island, but his rise to the country's No. 2 job was anything but meteoric. Egypt's Mursi invites opposition to dialogue on elections
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian P resident Mohamed Mursi invited opposition parties to a meeting on Monday to discuss concerns about upcoming parliamentary elections, which some parties have threatened to boycott, and agree on ways to ensure their fairness. The invitation was similar to offers Mursi has made previously that were spurned, and the National Salvation Front opposition coalition immediately rejected the offer to meet. … African leaders sign deal aimed at peace in eastern Congo
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – African leaders signed a U.N.-mediated deal on Sunday aimed at ending two decades of conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and paving the way for the deployment of a new military brigade to take on rebel groups. Congo's army is fighting the M23 rebels, who have hived off a fiefdom in North Kivu province in a conflict that has dragged Congo's eastern region back into war and displaced more than half a million people. U.N. … 
BEIJING (Reuters) – Yum Brands Inc will tighten its monitoring of suppliers and improve testing of poultry as it aims to reverse a steep drop in business at its KFC restaurants in China after a chicken safet y scare. In a statement ahead of a media briefing in Beijing on Monday, the company also said it would look to improve its communications with the Chinese government and people in the wake of the scare. … 
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's government is likely to nominate Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda, an advocate of ag gressive monetary easing, as its next central bank governor, sources told Reuters on Monday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also seen filling one of two deputy governor posts with Kikuo Iwata, an academic critical of Bank of Japan policy and an advocate of unorthodox monetary easing steps, the Nikkei newspaper reported. … 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With five days left before $85 billion is slashed from government budgets, the White Hou se issued more dire warnings about the harm the cuts will do to Americans, breaking down the loss of jobs and services to each of the states. The estimates show how many teachers could lose their jobs in each state, how many toddlers could be kicked out of subsidized preschool programs, and how many children could lose funding for vaccines for measles and mumps. … 
LONDON (Reut ers) – Chancellor George Osborne said he would not flinch from his austerity drive, despite increasing pressure to change course after the loss of the country's 'AAA' credit rating and with elections approaching in two years. Moody's dealt Britain its first sovereign rating downgrade on Friday, saying the $2.5 trillion economy faced years more sluggish growth and debt would continue to rise until 2016. … 
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Park Geun-hye became South Korea's first female president Monday, returning to the presidential mansion where she grew up with her dictator father. 
CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's Islamist president has invited political forces to join him in a dialogue to find ways to ensure the "integrity and transparency" of upcoming parliamentary elections. 
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Park Geun-hye has become South Korea's first female president and returned to the presidential mansion where she grew up with her dictator father. 
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuban President Raul Castro announced on Sunday he will step down from power after his second term ends in 2018, and the new parliament named a 52-year-old rising star to become his first vice president and most visible successor. "This will be my last term," Castro, 81, said shortly after the National Assembly elected him to a second five-year term. In a surprise move, the new parliament also named Miguel Diaz-Canel as first vice president, meaning he would take over if Castro cannot serve his full term. … 
CANBERRA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – This year's second grounding of Lockheed Martin Corp's va unted F-35 warplane, plus looming U.S. defense cuts, are likely to complicate a push this week by Lockheed and U.S. officials to convince wary Australian lawmakers and generals to stick to a plan to buy 100 of the jets. Australia, a close American ally, is considering doubling its fleet of 24 Boeing Co F/A-18 Super Hornets amid delays and setbacks in Lockheed's $396 billion F-35 project. … 
A few months ago Army Sgt. 1st Class Walter Talens was shooting footage from Afghanistan, but on Sunday he had a prime seat to star watch at The Academy Awards. 
LONDON (AP) -- The U.S. is frantically trying to salvage a Syrian opposition conference that John Kerry plans to attend this week during his first official overseas trip as U.S. secretary of state. 
BEIJING (Reuters) – China's readiness to bend retirement rules to keep arch-reformer Zhou Xiaochuan at the helm of the central bank signals cl early that new Communist Party chiefs want to speed economic reform in the country's most critical development phase in three decades. Central bank insiders interviewed by Reuters say the People's Bank of China (PBOC) is the country's most potent force for reform in the face of powerful vested interests, echoing sources with leadership ties who last week said Zhou would keep his job despite reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. … 
NEW DELHI/BANGALORE (Reuters) – As BlackBerry launches the first smartphone from its make-or-break BB10 li ne in India, one of its most loyal markets, the company faces new competition from a formidable rival that has long had a minimal presence in the country. More than four years after it started selling iPhones in India, Apple Inc is now aggressively pushing the iconic device through installment payment plans that make it more affordable, a new distribution model and heavy marketing blitz. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Sunday denied covering up allegations of sexual misconduct by a former senior member of his Liberal Democrat party, already floundering in opinion polls. Allegations of sexual impropriety by former party chief executive Chris Rennard threaten to engulf Clegg and further undermine the Lib Dems, the junior member of Britain's coalition government. … 
We've had the first big crash of the Daytona 500. 
BEIRUT (AP) -- A prominent Syrian comedian has been killed in Damascus after apparently being caught in the crossfire between rebels and government troops. 
PARIS (Reuters) – The popularity of French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has improved slightly since last month, according to an OpinionWay poll car ried out for newspaper Metro and TV channel LCI. The survey published on Sunday showed 39 percent of those interviewed were satisfied with Hollande's performance, up 1 percentage point, while 57 percent were dissatisfied, down 3 points. The proportion of people satisfied with Ayrault rose 1 point to 36 percent, with the percentage of those dissatisfied with him decreasing by 5 points to 54 percent. … 
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- Conservative candidate Nicos Anastasiades won Cyprus' presidency Sunday by one of the widest margins in 30 years, and now faces the formidable task of preventing the country from suffering a financial meltdown. 
With help from seals, scientists have discovered a new source for the coldest, deepest water in the ocean. 
MADRID (Reuters) – Forty-five people have been arrested in Spain during disturbances following a demonstration on Saturday by tens of t housands of people against spending cuts and allegations of government corruption. The mostly peaceful march convened in central Madrid on Saturday evening in front of parliament under the watch of riot police, who closed access to the legislature, Ritz Hotel and stock exchange. However, while most protesters dispersed after the rally, police reported disturbances later on Saturday and early on Sunday around the city's Atocha train station. … 
LONDON (AP) -- A mural by secretive graffiti artist Banksy has been withdrawn from an auction sale after a campaign by London residents to reclaim it. 
BERLIN (Reuters) – Leading members of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) are considering a U-tu rn in policy on same sex couples after a court ordered the government to grant them greater adoption rights, in an embarrassing ruling for the chancellor. Germany's constitutional court ruled last week that gay people should be allowed to adopt a child already adopted by their partner, and that the present ban was unconstitutional because it violated the principle of equal treatment. … 
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict, speaking in his last Sunday address before becoming the first pope in some six centuries to step down, said he was following God's wishes and that he was not abandoning the Roman Catholic Church. Benedict, speaking in a strong voice to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, said he would continue to serve and love the Church by praying and meditating after his historic abdication on Thursday. "The Lord is calling me to climb onto the mountain, to dedicate myself even more to prayer and meditation," he said to cheers of "Long Live the Pope". … 
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is able to speak and understand people around him as he recovers from a stroke he suffered in December, a doctor responsible for his medical care said Sunday. 
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinians on Sunday called for an international investigation of Israel's treatment of detained Palestinians, after a 30-year-old Palestinian died in custody and a hunger strike by four other inmates sparked a week of West Bank protests. 
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian activists say rebel fighters have launched a fresh offensive on a government complex near the embattled northern city of Aleppo. 
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The last chance for a Sunday blessing from Pope Benedict XVI from his studio window is drawing a crowd to St. Peter's Square. 
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has defended France aga inst criticism from the European Central Bank (ECB) over its budget deficit, saying he believes that France will stick to its commitments. The European Commission has forecast that France's deficit will be 3.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year – well short of its 3 percent target under European rules – and ECB board member Joerg Asmussen told Reuters on Friday that Paris faces a test of its credibility, urging it to take "concrete and measurable" steps to reduce the deficit. … 
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A U.N.-mediated peace deal aimed at ending two decades of conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo was signed on Sunday by leaders of Africa's Great Lakes region in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. African leaders failed to sign the pact last month due to concerns over who would command a new regional force that will deploy in eastern Congo and take on armed groups operating in the region. Leaders from Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Republic and South Sudan were present at the signing, alongside U.N. … 
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- The family lawyer of Oscar Pistorius says the brother of the Olympic paraplegic athlete is facing culpable homicide charge in a 2010 road death. 
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran is to reduce its dependence on oil income and boost non-oil exports in its budget to counter the "heavy" im pact of sanctions, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a television interview late on Saturday. The budget is due to be presented to parliament on Wednesday for debate and likely amendments before it is subject to a parliamentary vote in the run up to Iran's election in June that will take place against the backdrop of deep economic gloom. "Events have struck from beyond our own economy and heavy factors are active from outside. … 
ROME (AP) -- Will Italy stay the course with painful economic reform? Or fall back into the old habit of profligacy and inertia? These are the stakes as Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. 
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- Cypriots are choosing a new president with the conservative candidate favored to win over his left-wing rival in a runoff vote. 
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul.