KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Officials say a senior Pakistan Taliban commander who was hiding out in eastern Afghanistan has been arrested.
Xstrata unit wins environmental approval for $5.9 billion Philippine mine
MANILA (Reuters) – Global miner Xstrata Plc's $5.9 billion Tampakan mine in the Philippines has been granted an environmental c ompliance certificate by the government, the company said on Tuesday, removing one of the hurdles delaying work on Southeast Asia's biggest copper-gold prospect. The Tampakan project, the Philippines' single largest foreign direct investment and seen as a bellwether for overseas investors, has been held up by a 2010 ban on open-pit mining imposed by the provincial government of South Cotabato because of its harmful effects on the environment. … Eurotunnel says to challenge UK antitrust stance on ferries
PARIS (Reuters) – Channel tunnel operator Eurotunnel said it would challenge a U.K. watchdog's view that its ta keover of three ships owned by failed ferry operator SeaFrance would hamper competition on cross-Channel services. The U.K. Competition Commission said earlier on Tuesday that passengers and freight customers could face higher prices with the arrival of MyFerryLink, a ferry service Eurotunnel launched using the three former SeaFrance vessels. … With source of fire that disabled Carnival cruise ship known, Coast Guard seeks to learn more
ATLANTA – Now that investigators have determined the origins of the engine-room fire that paralyzed a Carnival cruise ship at sea for five days, they will try to learn more about the cause, the crew’s response, and why the ship was disabled for so long.
Multi-million diamond heist at Brussels airport
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Police on Tuersday were looking for eight men who made a hole in a security fence of Brussels’ international airport, drove onto the tarmac and robbed tens of millions of dollars worth of diamonds from the hold of a Swiss-bound plane.
China rejects status as world's biggest trader
BEIJING (AP) -- China has a new status its government doesn’t want -- world’s biggest trader.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Police launched raids across Turkey early on Tuesday targeting a militant leftist group beh ind a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy, ordering the arrest of nearly 200 people, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. The nationwide operation came after a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) blew himself up at an entrance of the U.S. embassy in Ankara on February 1, killing a Turkish security guard. … 
CAIRO (Reuters) – Two years after a pro-democracy uprising, Egypt resembles a rickety bus rolling towards a cliff, its passengers too busy feuding over blame to wrench the steering wheel to safety. Foreign exchange reserves are dwindling. Tourism is moribund. Investment is at a standstill. Subsidised diesel fuel and fertilizer are in short supply, while the cost of subsidies is swelling the budget deficit unsustainably. The Egyptian pound has lost 14 percent of its value since the 2011 revolt. Dollars are scarce. An IMF loan that could unlock wider aid is on hold. Unemployment is rising. … 
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The number of Afghan civilians killed in U.S. and NATO airstrikes dropped by nearly half last year to 126, the U.N. said Tuesday. The report came a day after President Hamid Karzai banned government forces from requesting foreign air support during operations in residential areas. 
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -- Olympian Oscar Pistorius has entered a magistrate's court in South Africa's capital for a bail hearing in the killing of his model girlfriend. 
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan's prime minister has ordered on operation in the southwestern city of Quetta following a bombing targeting minority Shiite Muslims that killed 89 people. 
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- The announcement of President Hugo Chavez's return to Venezuela after a 10-week silence in Cuba is raising questions about his cancer treatments, his delicate health, and the political purposes that motivated his homecoming. 
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian Defence minister A.K. Anton y said on Tuesday it is "too early" to look at any possibility of foul-play in a deal with France's Dassault Aviation to buy Rafale war planes, following allegations of bribes in a deal with another company. India froze payments last week for AgustaWestland helicopters pending an inquiry after Italian police arrested the former head of Finmeccanica, Giuseppe Orsi, for allegedly paying bribes to Indian politicians to win the contract. (Reporting by Manoj Kumar) 
YEREVAN (Reuters) – Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has won a new five-y ear term, the Central Electoral Commission said on Tuesday. Police said after polls closed on Monday that they had received 70 reports of voting violations, including bribery at polling stations, and that they had opened two criminal investigations. The president, 58, has vowed to sustain economic recovery in his landlocked South Caucasus country and said before the vote he would ensure stability and security after years of war and upheaval though he outlined no big policy changes. … 
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's outgoing president warns North Korea has pushed itself further into a corner with its recent nuclear test.