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Off the Radar News Roundup

Judah Grunstein | Bio | 06 Nov 2009

- South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak rules out a North-South summit without an end to the DPRK nuclear program.

- The EU and India set ambitious goals for bilateral trade, but a long-negotiated free trade deal is still being held up by disagreements over EU demands on regulatory standards (a major component of EU soft power). At the same summit, the two sides signed a civil nuclear agreement on fusion research.

- Another Indian free trade agreement, this one with South Korea, is set to take effect now that South Korea's parliament just ratified the deal. Trade between the two nations reached $15.6 billion last year, up sixfold from $2.6 billion in 2002.

- With Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Paris to discuss, among other things, France's opposition to Turkey's EU accession, Turkey is catching some flak from the EU for inviting Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to the Organization of the Islamic  Conference summit in Istanbul this weekend. Turkey is not a party to the Rome Statute, and therefore not bound by the ICC. Nevertheless, in Ankara's "two steps forward, one step back" routine of late, this would qualify as an example of the latter.

- Andry Rajoelina -- the self-made millionaire, former DJ who has been Madagascar's leader since staging a March coup -- stormed out of African Union-mediated talks to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with deposed president Marc Ravolamanana. The talks were extended for two days, but it's still unclear whether Rajeolina will return to the bargaining table.

Researched by Kari Lipschutz.