Beijing / AFP US President Barack Obama was to meet the Dalai Lama at the White House on Wednesday, a move condemned by China which portrays the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader as a dangerous separatist. Obama has met the Dalai Lama several times before and calls the monk “a good friend,” but the pair will—as usual—talk behind closed doors …

  Brussels / AFP NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday demanded that Russia withdraw its forces and military hardware from Ukraine and halt its support for pro-Moscow separatists battling Kiev. “Russia needs to stop supporting the militants and withdraw its forces and military equipment from Ukrainian territory,” Stoltenberg said after a meeting of NATO defence ministers with their Ukrainian counterpart …

  Washington / AFP CIA lawyers sought guarantees the US spy agency would never be prosecuted for torturing suspects after the September 11, 2001 attacks, while other staff warned the program was an impending “train wreck,” documents showed. The correspondence provides a new glimpse into tussles within the CIA as it implemented its notorious “enhanced interrogation” techniques aimed at thwarting …