Daily News Brief

International envoy Kofi Annan met Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus today amid mounting global pressure for a firm response to reports of a regime-backed massacre of civilians. Annan, who will try to salvage a peace plan he brokered last month, said those responsible for the "appalling" deaths of more than 100 people in Houla on May 25 must be held to account (al-Jazeera). The UN Security Council has condemned the government's use of artillery in the assault on Houla. A UN human rights spokesman today says witnesses have reported that most of those killed were executed by pro-regime militias.

"Intervening in Syria without the protection of an international consensus would be particularly risky, since the country lies in the middle of a region in flames," writes the Financial Times' Gideon Rachman.

"Those who believed the Gulf Arabs or the Turks would act effectively without American leadership may be forgiven for the error--but error it was, more and more clearly with each passing day and the deaths each day brings in Syria. We have no more excuses," writes CFR's Elliott Abrams in his blog, Pressure Points.

"Annan's cease-fire plan might be the last chance to solve the Syrian crisis in peace. All forces in Syria should honor their commitments and carry out the cease-fire to the letter. The top priority now is to prevent more civilian deaths," writes China Daily in an unsigned editorial.

Philippine lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to convict the country's top judge for failing to declare $2.4m in foreign currency deposits after a five-month impeachment trial (al-Jazeera). Analysts say the closely watched trial was the first of its kind to be concluded properly.

CHINA: China has ousted its former rail minister, Liu Zhijun, from the Communist Party on charges of bribery and vice. Mr. Liu was removed from his post last February amid corruption suspicions associated with the construction of the country's ambitious high-speed rail network (FT).

NATO officials say an air strike in the Kunar Province over the weekend killed al-Qaeda's second-in-command (BBC) in Afghanistan, Saudi-born Sakhar al-Taifi. The Taliban denies these claims.

MYANMAR: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in Myanmar (NYT) for a three-day visit to boost bilateral relations, the first such trip in twenty-five years. Mr. Singh met with President Thein Sein on Monday and is scheduled to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday.

The results of last week's presidential election are not what anyone expected, with neither of the two initial frontrunners qualifying for the runoff, reports TIME. Instead, results show that "the two most polarizing candidates" on the ballot--the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and ousted president Hosni Mubarak's former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq--will vie for the country's presidency. The results sparked violence with protesters burning Shafiq's offices, which prompted a meeting of Egypt's cabinet today to address the situation (AFP).

IRAN: Officials warned Tuesday that Western countries that continue to pressure Tehran with sanctions would jeopardize chances of reaching an agreement in nuclear talks (Reuters).

A leaked UN document says Rwanda has been recruiting and training fighters to assist an armed rebellion in eastern Congo (BBC). Congolese authorities are investigating the allegations, while Rwanda's foreign minister denied them as "categorical lies."

MALI: Plans to create a new Islamist state in northern Mali collapsed (AFP) just days after the Tuareg rebel movement and hardline Islamist group Ansar Dine declared their merger Saturday. The two groups said that fundamental differences led to the impasse in talks.

According to a new Pew poll, support for European integration has fallen sharply across the EU, but few Europeans want to abandon the euro and stricken Greeks are keenest to keep the common currency.

DENMARK: Two men with suspected links to a militant Islamist group in Somalia were arrested for an alleged terror plot (BBC), the Danish Security and Intelligence Service says. The men, who are brothers, were arrested late Monday night.

VATICAN: The Vatican widened its probe into a document leaking scandal Monday after the Pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested for having confidential documents in his home. He is expected to shed new light on the dozens of documents that reveal power struggles, corruption, and intrigue inside the highest levels of the Catholic Church.

ITALY: Less than ten days after an earthquake overwhelmed the Emilia Romagna region, a 5.8 magnitude quake (NYT) hit the area Tuesday morning, killing at least ten people.

With China eager to feed its growing energy appetite (CNN), it has spread its worldwide search for oil and other energy production to North and South America, which many analysts say may actually be good for U.S. consumers since it will likely increase supplies worldwide and possibly lower prices.

UNITED STATES: A boom in unconventional natural gas (Reuters) over the next twenty years could benefit the country with cheaper energy, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is attempting to campaign in Ohio and other swing states (TIME) on a bad economy, which he would like to blame on President Barack Obama. This line, however, puts in him at odds with the Republican governors who seem to be echoing Obama's message of slow-but-promising progress.

President Obama is leading Romney in contributions from military personnel, according to a USA Today report on campaign finance filings, but a Gallup poll shows likely veteran voters favor Romney by 24 percentage points.

Foreign Policy's Daniel Drezner predicts the first year of foreign policy under President Romney, based on every single foreign policy statement or comment the candidate has made on the campaign trail so far.

Editor's Note: For more information on the presidential election and foreign policy, check out CFR's campaign blog, The Candidates and the World.

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