HuffPost World Daily Brief: Flood Death Toll Spikes.. Kim Jong Il's Coffin.. U.S. Talks With North Korea

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 Death Toll From Philippines Floods Nears 1,000 ILIGAN, Philippines -- The government shipped more than 400 coffins to two flood-stricken cities in the southern Philippines on Tuesday as the death toll neared 1,000 and President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity. Cameron Lands In Afghanistan To Visit British Troops: HuffPost Reports From Afghanistan North Korean TV Shows Kim Jong Il Lying In Coffin Pre-Dawn Raid On Tahrir Square More Than 100 Killed In Syria On Monday North Korea Talks With U.S. On Hold -- For Now BLOG POSTS Ephraim Sneh: A Warning Call These sanctions if seriously implemented will accelerate the collapse of the repressive regime in Tehran. And, Israel will be exempted of the need to take military action against Iran, with all its repercussions. Colin Pattinson: Outcomes of Kim Jong Il's Death The initial reaction to the news amongst my coworkers, as I sit here in Seoul, is of fear and trepidation. Not one of celebration as you might expect. Nobody is jumping for joy, no one is cheering. Instead, as we sat down for lunch together, people ate solemnly. Lawrence Korb: A Prudent Response to Chinese Military Modernization The War in Iraq has ended. Osama bin Laden is dead. NATO is looking at a 2014 date for significantly reducing operations in Afghanistan. Yet some conservatives are looking to continue the era of massive military spending increases. Lucas Kavner: Tracking Vaclav Havel: From Orwell to Vermont and Into Prague This past week we lost a writer and a major intellectual, and we lost a brutal, confounding dictator. We also lost a playwright, a rebel, a rockstar, a chain-smoker, a renowned artist, a non-profit leader, and one of the most beloved presidents in history. Steve Clemons: Kim Jong Il's Death: Time to Stir Up Robber Baron Envy? Now may be the time for Obama, as well as leaders in Japan, South Korea, China and Russia, to offer trips to North Korea's political and military elite -- to show them what they could have if they engineered some shifts inside the regime.

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