News Headlines - 18 February 2012

▽Japan’s 78-year-old Emperor Akihito has successful heart bypass surgery, palace says - Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/japanese-emperor-akihito-undergoes-scheduled-heart-bypass-surgery/2012/02/17/gIQAoGaoKR_story.html
Japan’s 78-year-old Emperor Akihito underwent successful heart bypass surgery Saturday that should allow him to lead a more active life, a palace official said.
The operation lasted about five hours as expected, and Akihito was being monitored in an intensive care unit at the University of Tokyo Hospital, the official from the Imperial Household Agency said.

▽Israel Pressures Japan on Iran - Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204880404577230871356966362.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday during a visit to Japan called for an "urgent" tightening of sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports and access to global financial clearing houses, urging his Japanese hosts to put more pressure on Tehran to dissuade it from developing nuclear weapons.

▽Iran risks nuclear Cold War - Telegraph.co.uk
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9089995/Iran-risks-nuclear-Cold-War.html
Iran's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction is threatening to trigger a “new Cold War” that poses an even greater threat of nuclear conflict than the stand-off between the USSR and the West, William Hague warns.

▽Pope Benedict creates 22 new cardinals - Telegraph.co.uk
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/9090590/Pope-Benedict-creates-22-new-cardinals.html
Pope Benedict has made his stamp on the future of the Catholic Church by ordaining 22 new cardinals, 18 of whom are "cardinal electors," allowed to chose one of their own to succeed him.

▽Dutch prince buried in avalanche, condition critical - Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/us-dutch-austria-avalanche-idUSTRE81G0ZR20120217
Dutch Prince Johan Friso was in critical condition in hospital after he was buried in an avalanche while skiing off piste in the Austrian Alps Friday, authorities said.