In brief: Obama starting trip with visit to DMZ

Washington – Amid new tension with North Korea over a planned rocket launch, President Barack Obama plans to visit the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea at the start of an international trip next week, the White House said Tuesday.

Sunday’s trip to the most heavily defended border in the world carries obvious Cold War symbolism as Obama tries to foster new nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea. Although U.S. officials regularly go to the DMZ, the presidential visit is likely to be read by the North as a special show of strength to its new, untested leader.

Greece’s Parliament OKs new bailout deal

Athens, Greece – Greece’s Parliament early today approved a new international bailout deal, which will see the crisis-hit country receive an additional $227 billion in rescue loans.

Lawmakers voted 213-79 in favor of the new agreement, with deputies backing the coalition government of socialists and conservatives broadly following party lines.

Earlier, the Communist Party staged nationwide protests against the deal, including a rally outside parliament attended by several thousand demonstrators.

Russia ready to endorse Syria resolution

Moscow – Russia said Tuesday it’s ready to support a United Nations resolution endorsing Kofi Annan’s plan for settling the Syrian crisis, signaling it is prepared to raise the pressure on its old ally.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that the resolution shouldn’t turn into an ultimatum to the Syrian government, setting the stage for tough bargaining over the wording of the document at the U.N. Security Council.

But Lavrov appeared to indicate Russia’s growing impatience with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose government he said made “many mistakes” that led to a worsening of the conflict.