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ISRAEL

Prime minister to visit Washington, may meet Obama

JERUSALEM | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to visit the United States at the beginning of March and may meet with President Obama to discuss Iran’s suspected nuclear-weapons program and unrest in the Middle East.

The visit will come after several rounds of so-called exploratory talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, and amid increased speculation over whether Israel is planning to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

Mr. Netanyahu is scheduled to address the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that starts on March 3 in Washington, his office said.

Asked whether Mr. Netanyahu would be meeting with Mr. Obama in Washington, an Israeli official told the Agence France-Presse that “it appeared that such a meeting is possible.”

MYANMAR

U.N. praises reforms from army-backed government

YANGON | A top U.N. envoy on Sunday hailed dramatic changes in Myanmar but said April 1 elections will be a “key test” of the army-backed regime’s commitment to reform.

Tomas Ojea Quintana. the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, welcomed a “continuing wave of reforms” since his last visit in August but warned that “serious challenges remain.”

“The upcoming by-elections will be a key test of how far the government has progressed in its process of reform,” he told reporters at a news conference to outline his preliminary observations.

He said he had been told that the use of international observers was “under consideration” for the election, which is likely to see opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi swept into parliament.

AFGHANISTAN

Nine killed in attack on police headquarters

KANDAHAR | Nine people died Sunday in a suicide car-bomb attack on police headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar, a bastion of Taliban terrorism, government officials said.

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