World condemns North Korean attack

S. Korean President Lee Myung-bak -- pictured talking at the Seoul G-20 summit -- said the provocation was like an invasion.South Korea threatens to punish North Korea "through action," not wordsThe United States calls the shelling "belligerent action"Japan, Indonesia, Russia and China also criticize the shelling

(CNN) -- Nations reacted swiftly Tuesday in condemning a North Korean artillery attack that South Korea said killed two marines and wounded 15 soldiers and civilians.

The strongest reaction came from South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who ordered his military to punish North Korea "through action," not just words, the official Yonhap news agency said.

"The provocation this time can be regarded as an invasion of South Korean territory," Lee said during a visit to the headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in central Seoul. "In particular, indiscriminate attacks on civilians are a grave matter."

The United States also offered quick comment, with the White House saying it "strongly condemns" the "belligerent action" by North Korea.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Defense Secretary Robert Gates was scheduled to speak with his South Korean counterpart Tuesday morning.

"Obviously we're in close contact with U.S. forces, Korea and our allies there in monitoring the situation," Lapan said.

U.S. forces in the area have taken no additional measures, he said.

"Right now it is too soon," Lapan said, adding, "At this point it is premature to say we are considering any action on this.

"Any incidents like this we view with concern. They certainly increase tensions on the (Korean) Peninsula."

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet is to meet Tuesday night to discuss the regional situation.

"The artillery attack carried out by North Korea today was unpardonable and the Japanese government strongly condemns North Korea," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said in a statement.

"This provocation by North Korea compromises the peace and security of not only South Korea, but also the entire region of North East Asia, including Japan," the official said. "Japan demands North Korea to stop such action immediately. Based on prime minister's orders, Japan will take appropriate measures in close coordination with [the] U.S. and South Korea, as well as other related countries."

Indonesian Foreign Minister R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa also expressed his nation's "deep concern."

"Indonesia calls on both sides to immediately cease hostilities, exercise maximum restraint and avoid further escalation of tension," Natalegawa said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China had taken note and expressed its concern.

"Relevant facts need to be verified and we hope both parties make more contributions to the stability of the peninsula," he said.

Russia's Interfax news agency said Russia condemned North Korea's artillery shelling, pointing out that "those who initiated the attack on a South Korean island in the northern part of the inter-Korean maritime border line assumed enormous responsibility."

CNN's Charley Keyes contributed to this report.

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William and Kate set royal wedding date

Prince William, Kate to marry in AprilThey will marry Friday, April 29, 2011 at Westminster AbbeyThe royal family says it will pay for the weddingWestminster Abbey has close ties to the monarchy

London, England (CNN) -- Britain's Prince William will marry Kate Middleton on Friday, April 29, at Westminster Abbey in London, the royal family said Tuesday, ending a week of speculation about the date and venue.

"The royal family will pay for the wedding, following the precedence set by the marriages of the prince and princess of Wales in 1981 and Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947," Prince Charles' spokeswoman said in a statement.

The government will meet any wider transportation or security-related costs, Prime Minister David Cameron said.

The thousand-year-old Westminster Abbey has been the favorite of royal fans, the media, and bookies ever since the couple announced their engagement a week ago.

Westminster Abbey was founded in 960, with the present Gothic church dating to 1245. Since 1066, it has been the "coronation church" -- the place where kings and queens are crowned when they ascend to the throne.

Its close ties to the monarchy means it has also been the site of many royal weddings and funerals. Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip there in 1947, when she was still a princess; her father, King George VI, got married there in 1923.

The funeral service for Princess Diana, William's mother, took place there in 1997.

Middleton was photographed leaving the Abbey last week with her parents, and British newspapers reported they had a private after-hours tour.

The wedding day will be a national holiday, Cameron said, though Scottish lawmakers still must approve the measure because Scotland has its own devolved government.

"The wedding of Kate and William will be a happy and momentous occasion," Cameron said in a statement. "We want to mark the day as one of national celebration. A public holiday will ensure the most people possible will have a chance to celebrate on the day."

The choice of Westminster Abbey may indicate that William and Middleton are trying to avoid comparisons to the 1981 wedding of Diana and Prince Charles, held at St. Paul's Cathedral.

The palace had already said the wedding would take place in the spring or summer of 2011, but it refused to give a firm date.

It's unclear whether the couple chose April 29 because it coincides with St. Catherine's Day on the Anglican calendar of saints. The palace has been referring to Middleton as "Catherine" instead of her usual "Kate."

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U.N.: Bolder climate change deal needed

Negotiators will meet in Cancun, Mexico in late November to build on the Copenhagen Accord agreed last December.Governments must set in stone climate pledges made in Copenhagen, Steiner saidComes as UN releases a report saying government must do more to reduce emissionsReport finds that even if all pledges are met, temperatures will still rise above agreed levelsNegotiators meet in Cancun in late November for COP16

London, England (CNN) -- Governments must make bolder and more binding commitments to reduce carbon emissions, according to a new United Nations report.

The "Emission Gap Report" highlights the gap between pledges made and what's needed to avoid a dangerous rise in global temperatures.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, said negotiators must set in stone pledges made last year at the U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark when they meet in Cancun, Mexico next week.

"This is not a matter of luxury choice that we can defer, but it is a matter of an ever narrower window of time in which action is feasible on a scale and compatible with also economic and technological transition paths," Steiner said.

"That's why we wanted to issue this report just before Cancun to remind the world that despite the struggles of Copenhagen, there is a climate path forward for the international community that it is feasible, but we have to accelerate it and there is a still a gap to meet the minimum objectives agreed in Copenhagen," he added.

"The ability to close that five gigaton gap is simply beyond question. We can do it
--Achim Steiner, U.N. Environment Program

A record 15,000 delegates converged on Copenhagen last December for the 15th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15).

The talks carried high hopes for a binding global agreement to curb carbon emissions but in the end delivered a disappointing and loose set of voluntary actions named the "Copenhagen Accord."

Eighty countries responsible for 80 percent of the world's carbon emissions signed the accord agreeing, among other things, that the global temperature rise should be limited to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Average global surface temperatures have already increased by about 0.74 degrees Celsius over the past hundred years to 2005, according to the Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC has warned that a failure to reduce carbon emissions could lead to the disappearance of sea ice by the end of the 21st century causing sea levels to rise, water shortages in semi-arid areas and an increasing risk of extinction for up to 30 percent of the world's species.

Next week, negotiators will meet in Cancun, Mexico for COP16, to try to close the political gap between commitments made by developed and developing nations to reduce carbon emissions.

However, the "Emissions Gap Report," released Tuesday, found that even if all nations meet all pledges made in the Copenhagen Accord, the world will be still be only 60 percent of the way towards keeping the global average temperature rise below two degrees Celsius.

The report, compiled by 30 of the world's leading climate researchers, quantified how many gigatons of carbon emissions could be cut if all nations kept pledges made in the Copenhagen Accord, and the corresponding likely rise in global average temperatures.

It started from a base of 48 gigatons produced by the world in 2009. The report found that if nothing is done to cut carbon emissions they will rise to 56 gigatons by 2020. That equates to a likely global average temperature increase of seven degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

To keep the average global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius the report found that carbon emissions must drop to 44 gigatons each year, ideally by 2020.

However, the report found that even if governments meet all the targets set out in the Copenhagen Accord, world carbon emissions would only drop to 49 gigatons.

The corresponding temperature rise would be around 2.5 degrees Celsius, higher than the two degree target.

"The ability to close that five gigaton gap is simply beyond question. We can do it," said Steiner. He added that it could be achieved by phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and by tightening up rules on carbon credits to discourage wasteful energy practices.

The executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has said Cancun can be a success if the parties compromise.

"They have to balance their expectations so that everyone can carry home a positive achievement while allowing others to do the same -- that's how multilateral agreements are made elsewhere and it is how it has to happen in climate, too," said Christiana Figueres.

The Cancun climate talks start on November 29 and end December 10.

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11 arrested in European terror sweep

Arrests target terror suspects in EuropeJewish, NATO targets were considered, counter-terrorism official saysThe arrests followed months of undercover investigation, police sayA second unrelated sweep is ongoing, intelligence sources sayThe suspects in the other raids are accused of links to terror suspect Bassam Ayachi

(CNN) -- Authorities have arrested 11 people in connection with a suspected terror plot targeting Belgium, officials there said Tuesday.

The suspects were using a jihadist website to plan an attack on an unspecified target, police said.

"Long months of undercover investigation" led to the arrests, the authorities said.

It was "clear to us that the target was Belgian soil, just not clear enough to say where and when," Belgian public prosecutor Lieve Pellens told CNN.

Seven of the arrests were in Antwerp, Belgium, she said. One was in Aachen, Germany, and the other three were in the Netherlands. Those arrested are Belgian, Dutch, Moroccan and Chechen, authorities said.

A senior European counter-terrorism official told CNN that members of the group arrested in Antwerp, and their associates in Germany and the Netherlands, had discussed targeting Jews in Belgium as well as NATO vehicles in the country. However, officials say no specific targets appear to have been identified.

Authorities tracked discussions between members of the group through wiretaps, the official says, and a second European source confirmed the intercepts of discussions related to NATO. However, NATO's headquarters in Brussels does not appear to have been a target of the group, the source told CNN.

Authorities are investigating the links between members of the Antwerp group and Sharia4Belgium, a Belgian Islamist organization, a Belgian counter-terrorism official told CNN.

The investigation, which also looked into the financing of what police called a Chechen terror organization, has been going on since late 2009, according to a statement from the Belgian prosecutor's office.

On Tuesday, 10 of the suspects will face a judge, who will determine whether police can continue to hold them for more questioning, the Belgian officials said.

The arrests wrap up the investigation, Pellens said.

Several other people had already been arrested in Spain, Morocco and Saudi Arabia during the investigation, police said, without saying when the arrests took place or how many people were detained.

The Antwerp investigation began after a U.S. intelligence agency passed on intercept information to its Belgian counterparts, an intelligence source told CNN. But Pellens said Belgian police were alerted to the group's activity because they used the Ansar al-Mujahideen website.

An unrelated police operation targeting terrorist suspects is under way in Brussels, Belgian counterterrorism sources said.

The sources say police have visited 15 locations in Brussels, Belgium's capital, as part of a continuing investigation into a terrorist cell linked to Bassam Ayachi, who was charged in 2009 with preparing terrorist attacks.

The intentions of that cell are "dangerous but not imminent," Pellens said.

Ayachi, a French citizen, was detained in Italy in 2008. He was head of the Belgian Islamic Center (Centre Islamique Belge or CIB), based in Molenbeek in Belgium.

A senior European counterterrorism official also told CNN that one of the people targeted in the Brussels operation had engaged in jihadist activities in Iraq and returned to Belgium two years ago.

CNN's Paul Cruickshank, Diana Magnay and Alanne Orjoux contributed to this report.

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South Korean leader in retaliation threat against North

Korean conflict sparks fears of warNEW: Artillery barrage "unprecedented in recent years," analyst saysNEW: President Obama, U.S. Rep. Boehner condemn North Korean actionTwo South Korean marines were killed; 15 civilians and soldiers hurtPyongyang calls South's military drills "reckless military provocation"

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Hours after North Korea's deadly artillery attacks Tuesday, South Korea's president said "enormous retaliation" is needed to stop Pyongyang's incitement, but international diplomats urgently appealed for restraint.

"The provocation this time can be regarded as an invasion of South Korean territory," President Lee Myung-bak said at the headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff here, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

The incident -- in which two South Korean marines died -- is "the first direct artillery attack on South Korean territory since the Korean War ended in an armistice, not a formal peace treaty" in the 1950s, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

Scott Snyder, director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, the Asia Foundation, called the act a "very serious provocation" and said it was "unprecedented in recent years [at least since the 1970s if not longer] in terms of artillery beyond the DMZ into civilian areas."

The United States has about 28,500 troops deployed in South Korea who are warily watching the situation. A U.S. defense official said there are "more than 50 U.S. Navy vessels in the area, including a carrier strike group led by the USS George Washington. However, there are no plans to send more ships or forces in response to the strike.

Along with the slain marines, 15 South Korean soldiers and three civilians were wounded when the North fired about 100 rounds of artillery at Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, South Korea authorities said. The attack also set houses and forests on fire on the island.

South Korea's military responded with more than 80 rounds of artillery and deployed fighter jets to counter the fire, defense officials said.

Firing between the two sides lasted for about an hour in the Yellow Sea, a longstanding flash point between the two Koreas. In March, a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, was sunk in the area with the loss of 46 lives in a suspected North Korean torpedo attack.

Lee called "indiscriminate attacks on civilians are a grave matter." He said that since "North Korea maintains an offensive posture," South Korea's military forces -- the army, air force and navy -- "should unite and retaliate against [the North's] provocation with multiple-fold firepower."

"Reckless attacks on South Korean civilians are not tolerable, especially when South Korea is providing North Korea with humanitarian aid," Lee said, according to Yonhap.

"As for such attacks on civilians, a response beyond the rule of engagement is necessary. Our military should show this through action rather than an administrative response" such as statements or talks, he said.

After the incident, Yonhap said the Seoul government "banned its nationals from entering the communist state, indefinitely postponed their scheduled Red Cross talks and began looking at ways to push the United Nations to condemn Pyongyang."

This latest action occurred during South Korean maritime military drills. North Korea said the incident stemmed from those exercises, code named Hoguk, and called the activity "war maneuvers for a war of aggression."

The "South Korean puppet group" engaged in "reckless military provocation" by firing "dozens of shells" inside its territorial waters "despite the repeated warnings of the DPRK" or Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's military said in a statement.

"The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK standing guard over the inviolable territorial waters of the country took such a decisive military step as reacting to the military provocation of the puppet group with a prompt powerful physical strike," the statement said.

The provocation this time can be regarded as an invasion of South Korean territory.
--President Lee Myung-bak

"It is a traditional mode of counter-action of the army of the DPRK to counter the firing of the provocateurs with merciless strikes," said the statement, which warned that it "will unhesitatingly continue taking merciless military counter-actions against it" if the border is crossed.

A senior U.S. defense official said South Korea informed North Korea before firing its first artillery rounds, as part of that training mission, and that "there's no reason North Korea should have been surprised by this firing of artillery."

The U.S. military does not publicly announce its military posture or "state of readiness," but no changes have been observed from what U.S. forces in Korea were doing before this attack. The official says that North Korea has a history of unpredictable behavior and that "in some ways, this is not surprising for them."

Some U.S. forces had been helping the South Koreans in their training exercises, but were not in the shelled area.

Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special envoy on North Korean denuclearization, urged restraint on both sides when he spoke to reporters about the incident. He was in Beijing to discuss nuclear matters with Chinese diplomats.

"The U.S. strongly condemns this aggression on the part of North Korea, and we stand firmly with our allies. The subject did, of course, come up in my meetings with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I think we both share the view that such conflict is very undesirable. I expressed to them the desire that restraint to be exercised on all sides, and I think we agree on that."

This incident comes after a U.S. scientist reported that North Korea has a new uranium enrichment facility. North Korean officials said the facility is operating and producing low-enriched uranium, according to Stanford University professor Siegfried Hecker.

The enrichment facility contains 2,000 centrifuges and appears to be designed for nuclear power production, "not to boost North Korea's military capability," Hecker says.

But U.S. and South Korean diplomats said the latest revelation confirms the country's long-term deceit.

Sanctions have been progressively placed on North Korea in response to a succession of nuclear and missile tests and the sinking of the South Korean warship in March.

The United States said it would not dismiss restarting six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the North. However, it said it would not return to negotiations unless North Korea showed good faith.

Countries that had been negotiating with North Korea over its nuclear program issued swift reactions. The six-party talks include both Koreas, the United States, Russia, Japan and China.

The United States "strongly" condemned North Korea's action, and a U.S. Defense Department official told CNN that the "hope is that this is just one isolated incident, not an escalation into a different military posture" by the North.

U.S. President Obama, who said he deplored the action and plans to call President Lee, said he doesn't believe North Korea is living up to its obligations. U.S. Rep. John Boehner, the House Republican leader who's in line to become the next speaker, said he joined Obama in condemning North Korea's "hostile action."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China had "taken note of relevant reports" and expressed its "concern." "Relevant facts need to be verified, and we hope both parties make more contributions to the stability of the peninsula," he said.

Russia's Interfax news agency said Russia condemned North Korea's artillery shelling and said "those who initiated the attack on a South Korean island in the northern part of the inter-Korean maritime border line assumed enormous responsibility."

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet held a ministerial meeting, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku announced a government statement condemning North Korea and calling the act "unpardonable."

Asked whether the violence in the Yellow Sea would make resumption of six-party talks more difficult, Bosworth said, the "resumption of the six-party talks has never been an easy process." A formal round of talks was last held a few years ago.

"We strongly believe that a multilateral diplomatic approach is the only way to realistically to resolve these problems."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged that "any differences should be resolved by peaceful means and dialogue."

A U.S. official with knowledge of U.S. strategy on North Korea says it may be time to adjust U.S. military policy in the region.

While the exercises "are designed to deter further provocative behavior by North Korea, obviously it's not working. When we announced joint military exercises in the Yellow Sea, it only angered China. And in other waters, it doesn't seem to be effective deterrence against the North Koreans," the official said.

Coming on the heels of the Cheonan sinking, the Asia Foundation's Snyder said the act "raises fundamental questions regarding what sorts of internal stresses the regime may be facing."

"It also signals dissatisfaction with the inter-Korean relationship and an apparent willingness to keep inter-Korean tensions high. The incident could reflect a more aggressive view of what a nuclear North Korea thinks it can do without facing a broader escalation of tensions."

Journalist Andrew Salmon and CNN's Steven Jiang, Yoko Wakatsuki and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

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Long-standing Korea tensions flare

Small-scale skirmishes have flared repeatedly along their land and sea borders over the past six decades.Tension has been high since the sinking of the South Korean warship CheonanA changing situation inside North Korea and the nuclear issue may also be factors, analysts sayYeonpyeong Island also was at the center of a skirmish in January

(CNN) -- A disputed maritime border. Long-standing tensions. And Tuesday, a sharp escalation of hostilities. North and South Korea fired at each other for about an hour on an island that sits off a disputed border. The deadly skirmish raised fears of war between the two rival nations, once again spiking tension in the entire region.

How did the latest hostilities begin?

South Korea said North Korea fired artillery Tuesday toward the border between the two nations. Two South Korean marines were killed and 18 soldiers and civilians were wounded.

South Korea had been conducting maritime military drills, which the North called "war maneuvers."

The North accused the South of "reckless military provocation" for firing dozens of shells inside North Korean territory around the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.

Plumes of smoke billowed from the island of 1,300 people but it was not immediately clear how much damage was incurred. Many residents were fleeing to the South Korean port of Incheon.

Why did this happen?

Tension has been running particularly high in the Korean peninsula after the March 26 sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan. Tuesday's incident, however, is one of the most serious that has occurred in recent years.

The hostilities come as North Korea is undergoing transition -- the ailing and reclusive leader Kim Jong Il is believed to be in the process of transferring power to his son Kim Jong Un. Some analysts believe upcoming internal changes have prompted North Korea to flex its military muscle in recent days.

Tuesday's violence was also preceded by the revelation of a North Korean uranium enrichment program.

Has this happened before?

Yes, Yeonpyeong Island has come under attack before. Last January, South Korea reported that the North had fired shells that fell in waters north of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean maritime border.

North Korea wants that border redrawn farther south.

Over the past six decades, small-scale skirmishes have flared repeatedly along both land and sea borders as each state aims to reunify the peninsula according to its own terms and system of government. Deadly naval clashes occurred along the demarcation line in 1999, 2002 and 2009.

What is the history of conflict?

After Japan's defeat in World War II, Korea became a divided nation, the capitalist South supported by the United States and its Western allies and the communist North an ally of the Soviet Union.

Cold War tensions erupted into war 1950, devastating the peninsula and taking the lives of as many as 2 million people. The fighting ended with a truce, not a treaty, and settled little.

Technically the two Koreas are still at war.

Besides the border skirmishes, other incidents also have proven provocative. In 1968, North Korea dispatched commandos in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate South Korea's president. In 1983, a bombing linked to Pyongyang killed 17 high-level South Korean officials on a visit to Myanmar. In 1987, the North was accused of bombing a South Korean airliner.

What happened with the Cheonan?

South Korea said a North Korean torpedo last March sent the warship Cheonan to the bottom of the Yellow Sea off the Seoul-controlled island of Baengnyeong. The sinking, also in the border area, killed 46 South Korean sailors.

South Korea was outraged by the incident. North Korea vehemently denied any responsibility, even after an international investigating team blamed North Korea. The United Nations Security Council statement condemned the attack but stopped short of placing blame on the North.

Will the two nations go to war?

South Korea put its military on high alert following Tuesday's exchange of fire. But whether that will translate into further military action is impossible to predict.

Events in the past few months suggested a slight thawing of icy relations.

North and South Korea had begun discussions on the possible resumption of reunions of family members separated by the Korean war and North Korea has requested military talks. In early September, the South offered food aid to the impoverished North for the first time in three years.

Given the closed nature of North Korean politics, it's hard to tell what changes the new leadership of Kim Jong Un will entail or whether re-engagement is on the table. Another wild card is the influence of China; some South Koreans fear a Chinese takeover in the event of a North Korean collapse.

Some analysts viewed Tuesday's exchange as North Korea flexing its military muscle in the light of its leadership transition. Others said it was related to the nuclear issue.

How will nuclear talks be affected?

Washington accuses Pyongyang of running a secret uranium-based nuclear program. The United States, along with the two Koreas, Russia, Japan and China, have been involved in what is called the Six Party Talks.

But those talks have been slow and arduous and in limbo since 2008. And after the revelation of the North Korean uranium enrichment facility a few days ago, the resumption of talks seemed in jeopardy.

Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special envoy on North Korean denuclearization, said Tuesday's hostilities will prove a further obstacle.

Choi Jin-wook, senior researcher at the Korea Institute of National Unification, said the North is "frustrated with Washington's response to their uranium program and they think that Washington has almost given up on negotiations with North Korea."

"I think they realize they can't expect anything from Washington or Seoul for several months, so I think they made the provocation," Choi said.

Journalist Andrew Salmon contributed to this report.

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Pakistan to pardon 'blasphemy woman'

Family photo of Asia Bibi, sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan.The High Court should release Asia Bibi, Punjab's governor tells CNNShe was sentenced to death for insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammed"She's not going to be a victim of this law," Gov. Salman Taseer says

Islambad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will pardon a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, the governor of Punjab state told CNN Tuesday.

"What basically he's made it clear is that she's not going to be a victim of this law," Gov. Salman Taseer told CNN International's "Connect the World" program.

"I mean, he's a liberal, modern-minded president and he's not going to see a poor woman like this targeted and executed. ... It's just not going to happen," Taseer said.

Asia Bibi, who has been jailed for nearly 15 months, was convicted in a Pakistani court earlier this month of breaking the country's controversial blasphemy law by insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammed, a crime punishable with death or life imprisonment, according to Pakistan's penal code. She was sentenced to death.

She has filed a petition for mercy with the High Court, Taseer said.

"If the High Court suspends the sentence and gives her bail then that is fine. We'll see that, and if that doesn't happen, then the president will pardon her," he said.

A preliminary investigation showed Bibi was falsely accused, a government official said Monday.

"The president asked me to investigate her case and my preliminary findings show she is innocent and the charges against her are baseless," Pakistani Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti told CNN.

Bhatti emphasized Monday that he has reached only preliminary conclusions and will submit a final report Wednesday to Zardari's office.

Prosecutors say Bibi, a 45-year-old field worker, insulted the Prophet Mohammed after she got into a heated argument with Muslim co-workers who refused to drink from a bucket of water she had touched.

In a brief news conference at the prison where she's being held, Bibi said Saturday that the allegations against her are lies fabricated by a group of women who don't like her.

"We had some differences and this was their way of taking revenge," she said.

Bibi's death sentence sparked outrage among human rights groups, who condemned Pakistan's blasphemy law as a source of violence and persecution against religious minorities.

CNN's Luke Henderson and Ravi Agrawal contributed to this report.

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IMF report: Greek economy on track

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou (L) and his Spainish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in Lisbon on Monday.The International Monetary Fund says Greece is on trackGreece received a 110 billion euro bailout in MayIMF: "Significant progress has been made"

Athens, Greece (CNN) -- Greece is on track and turning its economy around following a massive bailout this year, international lending authorities said Tuesday.

Teams from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank, and European Union have been in Athens over the past week to assess Greece's progress after the 110 billion euro ($150 billion) loan it received in May.

The Greek economic program, which is being supported by the loan, "remains broadly on track," the IMF said Tuesday.

"While challenges remain, significant progress has been made, particularly in reducing the fiscal deficit," it said.

Nothing can hold Greece back, prime minister says

The news may be encouraging for Ireland, which requested financial assistance Sunday from the IMF and European Union after days of denying it needed help. The country needs funds to shore up its banking sector and support the government, which has poured billions into saving the banks.

Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said the country would ask for less than 100 billion euros ($136 billion).

The IMF predicted Greece's economy will begin turning around in 2011. Wage and price inflation are beginning to moderate, "setting the state for improvements in competitiveness," it said.

The government has already managed to reduce its deficit by 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010, larger than its initial target. Meeting the deficit target of 7.5 percent of GDP in 2011 will be more difficult, however, after Greece revised its 2009 data and collected less revenue than projected, the IMF said.

It said Greece has adopted new measures to broaden tax bases and eliminate wasteful spending, particularly in the areas of health spending, state enterprises, and tax administration.

The IMF said Greek spending on health is "inefficient" relative to other countries using the euro currency, and its state enterprises are a "heavy burden" on the economy, with "perennial losses for Greek taxpayers."

The Greek government is still aiming to reduce the deficit to below 3 percent of GDP by 2014, the IMF said.

Greece's financial sector is also becoming more stable, the IMF said, even though the banking system remains under pressure. Some private banks have had success recently in raising funding and capital in the markets, and the government is strengthening its supervision of the banking and insurance sectors.

Structural reforms are a challenge, however, the IMF said.

"While significant progress has been made, with some landmark reforms -- including pension reform -- the program has now reached a critical juncture," the IMF said. "Many of the reforms that are necessary to transform Greece into a dynamic and export-driven economy require skillful design and political resolve to overcome entrenched interests. The challenge now is to implement an ambitious schedule for these next-stage reforms."

The IMF said Greece needs to align wages more closely with productivity and reform arbitration and collective bargaining systems. It needs to open up access to services, trades, and professions, and cut red tape and entry barriers to Greek industries, while also privatizing state assets.

In summary, it said, "the reforms needed to return Greece to robust economic growth are under way, but developments to date also reveal that structural issues must be dealt with to make the adjustment sustainable."

The IMF plans to next review Greece's progress in February.

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Death toll in Cambodia stampede rises

Another 391 people are injured in an annual festivalCambodia has declared Thursday as a national day of morningThe stampede occurred on a bridgeThe festival occurs each November to honor naval forces

(CNN) -- The death toll from a stampede at a Cambodian festival has risen to 345, the country's official news agency said Tuesday.

In addition to the deaths, another 391 people were injured at the annual Water Festival in the capital city of Phnom Penh on Monday, the AKP news agency said.

Cambodia has declared Thursday a national day of mourning for those who died in the crush, AKP reported. The country has also set up a commission to look into the incident.

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On Tuesday, the government said it will help with the transport of the bodies of those who died and pay 5 million riel ($1,230) to the family of each of the deceased.

The three-day festival, which began Saturday, is held each November near the palace to honor a victory by Cambodian naval forces during the 12th-century reign of King Jayvarman VII, according to the country's tourism website.

During the festival, which includes boat races, participants pray for a good rice harvest, enough rain and celebrate the full moon, the site says.

Visalsok Nou, a Cambodian Embassy official in Washington, said more than 4 million people were attending the Water Festival when the stampede occurred.

The municipal police chief said that the stampede, which began around 10 p.m. (10 a.m. ET), likely occurred because a suspension bridge packed with people began to sway, creating panic, said Philip Bader, a news editor with the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.

Steve Finch, a journalist with the newspaper, said police began firing water cannons onto a bridge to an island in the center of a river in an effort to get them to continue moving across the bridge.

"That just caused complete and utter panic," he told CNN in a telephone interview.

He said a number of people lost consciousness and fell into the water, he said.

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U.S. recovery gains pace

By Annalyn Censky, staff reporterNovember 23, 2010: 9:26 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. recovery tugged along at a faster pace in the third quarter than originally reported, driven by stronger exports and spending, the government said Tuesday.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy, grew at an annual rate of 2.5% in the three months ending in September, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That's a significant improvement over the 2% growth rate first reported for the period.

"We're headed in the right direction, and a good deal of the concern that was evident with the initial release has undoubtedly diminished," said Michael Schenk, senior economist with the Credit Union National Association. "But it doesn't really get us to where we need to be."

The government calculates GDP as a measure of goods and services produced in the United States. The number is often revised multiple times. This is the second reading for the quarter.

While the number is much better than the 1.7% growth reported in the second quarter, the rate is still considered weak for a recovery.

"I think most economists would agree that 2.5% is probably too low for robust job growth. It's about neutral," said Zach Pandl, an economist with Nomura Securities.

Consumer spending increased at a 2.8% pace, the best reading for that measure since the end of 2006, up from 2.6% initially reported. Exports were also revised upward to 6.3%, from 5%.

Those two points mark a bright spot in the report, as consumer spending and U.S. exports are engines of growth needed to drive the recovery forward.

Pandl expects the Fed's latest monetary stimulus plan, referred to as quantitative easing, will help spur stronger growth in the fourth quarter, but still not robust enough to totally diminish the need for the full $600 billion plan.

"This level of growth would still be considered unacceptable from the Fed's perspective," he said. "It's not fast enough to bring inflation back up and lower the unemployment rate. On the other hand, it suggests no reason for alarm."

The reading was slightly better than expected, as economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast growth of 2.4% for the third quarter.

First Published: November 23, 2010: 8:43 AM ET

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