World datelines

Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU — Ivory Coast's president signed a peace accord with the country's main rebel leader Sunday calling for a new government to hold elections by the year's end, and for the dismantling of a vast buffer zone separating the two sides. President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel leader Guillaume Soro agreed to form a new unity government within five weeks and create a new joint military command that would include rebel and army officials.

Egypt

CAIRO — The Iraqi government is responsible for defusing the sectarian violence tearing the country apart and should redraft the constitution and rescind laws that give preferential treatment to Shiites and Kurds, Arab foreign ministers said in a statement Sunday. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also hinted that Arab governments may take their recommendations on stemming the violence in Iraq to the U.N. Security Council if the government's efforts to end the crisis fail.

Iran

TEHRAN— Iran will not necessarily have direct talks with the United States if it attends an upcoming regional conference about Iraq's security crisis, an Iranian official said Sunday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini said Iran will announce "in the near future" whether it will attend the March 10 conference in Baghdad. Syria, the United States, Britain and France have said they will participate.

Japan

TOKYO — Japan will not apologize again for its World War II military brothels, even if the U.S. Congress passes a resolution demanding it to do so, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament Monday. Abe, elaborating on his denial last week that women from across Asia were forced to serve as frontline prostitutes, said none of the testimony in hearings last month in the U.S. House of Representatives offered any solid proof of abuse.

Russia

ROSTOV-ON-DON — An avalanche swept into a chairlift Sunday at a ski resort that is part of Russia's bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, killing a 10-year-old child and trapping at least three other people, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. The avalanche took place at Krasnaya Polyana, one of Russia's best-known ski centers.

Saudi Arabia