For centuries, camel caravans have sauntered into this town during the cool months, loaded with large, rectangular blocks of one of the desert's few resources: salt. The ancient trade is not disappearing, but it is changing. And the gradual substitution of trucks for camels is just one evolution taking place in Timbuktu and the desert that surrounds it, extending north like an infinite ocean. (Karin Brulliard - Post)
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said that world powers will soon impose "significant additional sanctions" on Iran over its failure to engage in talks on its nuclear ambitions.
North Korea said meetings with Obama's envoy had "narrowed" differences with the United States and led to a "common understanding" of the need to restart international nuclear talks.