American Morning
Indonesia quake toll soars past 400
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) - Another strong earthquake rocked Indonesia early Thursday as the Southeast Asian nation was reeling from an earlier jolt that killed more than 400 people and caused widespread destruction.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/01/indonesia.earthquake/art.mourn.afp.jpg caption="Family members mourn in front of a collapsed school in Padang on Thursday. "]
The 6.8 magnitude quake Thursday hit South Sumatra at 8:52 a.m. local time (9:52 p.m. Wednesday ET), about 89 miles (143 kilometers) from Bengkulu, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The earlier quake Wednesday was 7.6 magnitude.
At least 464 people were dead and more than 500 were injured, said Tugiyo Bisri, spokesman for the Indonesian Social Affairs Ministry's Crisis Center said Thursday. The worst hit was the West Sumatra capital of Padang, where 376 people perished, he said.
Officials had little information on those who were missing and feared the death toll would climb into the thousands. Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Ministry of Health's crisis center said that thousands of people may be trapped by collapsed buildings and houses.
Japan-Tennessee custody fight not so clear cut
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) - The case of a Tennessee man jailed in Japan for trying to snatch back his children from his estranged wife is not as clear-cut as it's been made out to be, authorities here said Wednesday.
The father, Christopher Savoie, apparently became a naturalized Japanese citizen four years ago, listing a permanent address in Tokyo, they said.
And while he and Noriko Savoie, a Japanese native, divorced in Tennessee, the two never annulled their marriage in Japan, Japanese officials said.
Christopher Savoie's current wife, Amy, spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN's "American Morning" Wednesday.
Security Council aims for nuke-free world
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) - A rare meeting of U.N. Security Council heads of state, led for the first time by a U.S. president, adopted a resolution Thursday focused on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/09/24/obama.un.nuclear/art.obama.un.wed.afp.gi.jpg caption="President Obama is the first U.S. leader to head a United Nations Security Council meeting."]
President Obama challenged the gathering, which included leaders of nuclear powers including Russia, China, Great Britain and France, to overcome cynicism against the goal of ridding the planet of nuclear arms.
"We harbor no illusions about the difficulty of bringing about a world without nuclear weapons," Obama said, adding that Thursday's meeting signaled a significant step forward in cooperative global action.
The resolution, which was adopted unanimously, calls for tighter controls on nuclear materials to prevent them from being stolen or used for military purposes. It also encourages enforcement of international treaties and U.N. resolutions regarding nuclear non-proliferation, particularly when nations such as Iran and North Korea are in violation.
"The world must stand together," Obama said. "We must demonstrate that international law is not an empty promise."
It was the first Security Council summit chaired by a U.S. president, and only the fifth time that Security Council heads of state have met. Obama led the meeting because the United States holds the revolving presidency of the Security Council in September.
Obama calls for new era in world relations
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) - President Obama made a forceful call Wednesday for a new era in global relations, urging the United Nations to move past old divisions and disputes to reassert itself as a leading force in confronting the most pressing issues of today.
In his first speech as president to the U.N. General Assembly, Obama sought to distance his young administration from unilateral policies of his predecessor, while pledging a U.S. commitment to work with the United Nations in forging a better common future for all.
"The United States stands ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation - one that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations," Obama said in concluding a speech that received strong applause.
He told the assembly that the world's countries, both individually and collectively as the United Nations, have failed to put aside old ways of thinking and acting as they confront threats to global security and stability.
Webb: New push to secure Suu Kyi's release
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) - There is a new push to free Myanmar's pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, Sen. Jim Webb told CNN's "American Morning" Monday.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/08/17/myanmar.webb/art.myanmar.webb.afp.gi.jpg caption="Jim Webb speaks at a press conference in Laos Thursday as part of a two-week Southeast Asia trip."]
Webb spoke after a weekend visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, in which he secured the release of an American man who was sentenced to seven years of hard labor for visiting Suu Kyi.
ASEAN, a powerful economic and political bloc of Southeast Asian nations, may petition Myanmar to release Suu Kyi on the grounds of amnesty, according to Webb.
"(That) would be a major step forward in resolving this situation," the Virginia Democrat said.
ASEAN - the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - has been reluctant in the past to address Suu Kyi's detention in Myanmar, one of its 10 member nations.
But it has been under increased pressure to suspend Myanmar after the country's military junta convicted Suu Kyi last week for violating the terms of her house arrest.
That conviction stemmed from a May 3 incident in which American John Yettaw swam to her house, uninvited, and stayed for two days. Webb secured Yettaw's release, and he is currently being treated at a hospital in Bangkok. Yettaw suffers from diabetes.
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