Gwinnett Daily Post

China ups security on eve of key Tibet anniversary

KANGDING, China - Authorities closed the last window into a restive Tibetan region in western China on Monday, tightening its security cordon on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.

Beijing is trying to head off trouble around March 10, which marks the start of the 1959 abortive Tibetan revolt against Chinese rule. A peaceful commemoration last year by monks in Lhasa, Tibet's regional capital, erupted into anti-Chinese rioting four days later and spread to surrounding provinces - the most sustained and violent demonstrations in decades.

US protests 'harassment' by Chinese

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration vowed Monday to keep up military surveillance in waters off China and protested to China about what it called harassment of an American ship doing that work last week.

The Pentagon charged that a Chinese intelligence gathering vessel and four others 'shadowed and maneuvered dangerously close' to the USNS Impeccable surveillance ship in the South China Sea on Sunday, then threw obstacles in the water as it tried to leave.

N. Korea puts troops on alert, warns of war

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea put its troops on alert and cut the last hot line to Seoul on Monday as the American and South Korean militaries began joint maneuvers. The communist regime warned that even the slightest provocation could trigger war.

The North stressed that provocation would include any attempt to interfere with its impending launch of a satellite into orbit. U.S. and Japanese officials suspect the launch is a cover for a test of a long-range attack missile and have suggested they might move to intercept the rocket.

Iraq's women's minister to stay in her position

BAGHDAD - Iraq's state minister for women's affairs said Monday she plans to withdraw her resignation after receiving pledges from aid organizations to help improve women's lives.

Nawal al-Samarraie quit last month to protest the lack of resources for women, accusing the government of not making women's needs a priority.