Events

* The U.S. government lodges a protest with the Chinese government after five Chinese ships "harassed" the USNS Impeccable in the South China Sea. (BBC)
* United States President Barack Obama lifts Bush administration restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. (Reuters)
* Argentina and Chile reject British claims over Antarctic territory and the seabed. (Sky News)
* North Korea promises to retaliate if its "satellite" launch is intercepted, saying interference would mean war. (CNN)
* Sudanese opposition leader Hassan Turabi is released after previously suggesting President Omar al-Bashir should give himself up. (AP)
* The Sri Lankan military claims it has killed 180 LTTE fighters carrying out a wave of counterattacks. (Reuters)
* Bombs explode in Qinghai, China, damaging police cars after a clash with several people. (AP)
* The Japanese economy posts a record deficit of 172.8 billion yen. (Press Association)
* Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai rules out foul play in a car accident that killed his wife. (Guardian)
* Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav is to be charged with sex offences. (Bloomberg)
* Madagascar's government announces it will take "military measures" against mutinying soldiers. (Reuters)
* An Ilyushin Il-76 carrying equipment to the African Mission in Somalia (AMSOM) crashes into Lake Victoria shortly after takeoff from Entebbe International Airport, likely killing all eleven aboard. (UGpulse)
* Work begins to remove the wreckage of Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. (World Bulletin)
* The loss of silicon-carrying ship MV Ibn al-Battuta off Safaga, Egypt leaves around a dozen missing or dead, with reports on numbers conflicting. (AFP) (CNN) (Xinhua)