In brief: Italy to join NATO in Libya air raids

Rome – Italy will take part in strategic bombing raids in NATO’s Libya mission, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Monday, following a phone call with U.S. President Barack Obama

Berlusconi’s office said in a statement that Italy had decided to beef up its military action in Libya to better contribute to protecting civilians.

Italy had previously said it would not participate in airstrikes against Libyan targets, given its 40-year colonial rule over the country, but in Monday’s statement it said it had decided to increase its “operational flexibility.”

The statement stressed that Italian airstrikes would only be against “specific military objectives.”

Berlusconi will discuss Italy’s decision with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Rome today, the statement said.

Carter takes trip to North Korea

Beijing – Former President Jimmy Carter is heading to North Korea today with a to-do list that includes breaking the long impasse over the nation’s nuclear program, nudging the regime forward on human rights and possibly securing the release of an imprisoned U.S. citizen.

Carter is hoping to secure a face-to-face meeting with leader Kim Jong Il, who snubbed him in August when the former president traveled to North Korea to pick up another American, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a Christian activist who was held for illegally entering the country.

Speaking with reporters Monday in Beijing, Carter was coy about whether he had been promised a meeting, saying only “it would be a pleasure if we could.”