A look at the main issues for the NATO alliance at the summit meeting for heads of government in Chicago on Sunday and Monday.

THE PLAYERS

An alliance formed in 1949 to deter Soviet aggression. The central principle is that an attack in Europe or North America against any member is an attack against all. The alliance has grown to 28 member nations, ranging from the United States, Britain, France and Germany to former Soviet bloc countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Albania and Croatia are the newest members

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AFGHANISTAN

The summit will affirm the shift in NATO’s military mission in Afghanistan from a combat role to an advisory role next year, and on plans to help underwrite the Afghan military after the NATO-led military mission ends two years from now. NATO is pledging to maintain a multinational combat force in Afghanistan until sometime in 2014, with a firm deadline to end the mission by 2015. NATO nations, along with others such as Australia that participate in the NATO-led mission, have planned a gradual withdrawal of combat forces ahead of that deadline.

The election of Socialist President Francois Hollande in France complicates that agenda. Hollande campaigned on a promise to pull French troops out of Afghanistan by the end of this year — two years early.

Public sentiment in Europe and the United States favors a faster pullout than NATO now plans. The United States and Britain, which have the largest forces in Afghanistan, are trying to avoid a rush to the exits by other partners.

The summit will also showcase efforts to get firm financial commitments for support of Afghan forces. NATO argues that even the projected bill of about $4 billion annually is cheaper than the cost of war. But some European governments apparently have neither the budget nor the will to keep paying. The United States expects to pay much of the cost but U.S. officials say Washington cannot foot the bill alone.

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NATO MODERNIZATION

Most alliance members have endured economic reversals that make any major new defense spending unappealing or impossible. The alliance is laboring under the weight of outdated or incompatible equipment, and suffers major gaps in military capability that the better-equipped and better-funded U.S. military often has to fill. Some of those shortfalls were on display during last year’s successful NATO air mission in Libya.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates rattled NATO when he said the alliance risked falling apart if it continued to leave the hardest fighting and biggest bills to the United States.

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MISSILE DEFENSE

The alliance will declare that it has partly completed a missile defense shield for Europe. The system has achieved “interim capability,” against possible missile threats from Iran or elsewhere, NATO claims. Russia opposes the system, and has rebuffed NATO efforts to form a partnership.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attending the summit, largely because of the missile defense split.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A Flagstaff, Ariz., man who is suing the city is now its mayor.

The Arizona Daily Sun reports (http://bit.ly/JrL3zQ ) 63-year-old Jerry Nabours was elected mayor Tuesday night.

The retired attorney beat City Councilman Al White by 320 votes in the vote-by-mail election.

With more than 10,000 votes cast, turnout was about 39 percent.

Nabours says his victory is a validation of his conservative fiscal vision for Flagstaff. He has criticized White’s policies as a waste of taxpayer money as well as the city’s public-private partnerships.

Nabours is suing Flagstaff over an ordinance that requires property owners to pay for repairs of city-owned sidewalks. He initiated the suit in 2009 after receiving a $5,000 bill for a sidewalk in front of an apartment building he co-owns.

The case is awaiting review in the Arizona Supreme Court.

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Information from: Arizona Daily Sun, http://www.azdailysun.com/

LONDON (AP) — The Northern Lights have lit up the skies above Scotland, northern England and northern parts of Ireland after the biggest solar storm in more than six years bombarded Earth with radiation.

The Canadian Space Agency posted a geomagnetic storm warning on Tuesday after residents were also treated to a spectacular show in the night sky.

Ken Kennedy, director of the Aurora section of the British Astronomical Association, said that the lights, also known as the aurora borealis, may be visible for a few more days.

The Northern Lights are sometimes seen from northern parts of Scotland but the unusual solar activity this week means the lights have also been visible from northeast England and Ireland, a rarity.

Geomagnetic storms cause awesome sights, but they can also bring trouble.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, problems can include current surges in power lines, and interference in the broadcast of radio, TV and telephone signals.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Advisers to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney are acknowledging that he once had a Swiss bank account but that it was closed in 2010 as prepared to enter the race for the White House.

The Swiss account is listed on Romney’s newly released 2010 federal income tax return. It had been opened by a Boston lawyer who oversees the Romney family investments and a blind trust containing millions of dollars in assets.

Romney’s net worth is estimated at as much as $250 million.

R. Bradlford Malt, the trustee, said Tuesday that he closed the account in early 2010 because “it just wasn’t worth it.” He acknowledged that the account might be inconsistent with Romney’s political views. Malt has dropped other investments that conflict with Republican Party views.

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi loyalists have seized control of a Libyan town and raised the ousted regime’s green flag, an official and commander said Tuesday.

The retaking of Bani Walid comes as Libya’s new leaders have struggled to unify the oil-rich North African nation three months after Gadhafi was captured and killed.

Hundreds of well-equipped and highly trained remnants of Gadhafi’s forces raised the green flag over buildings in the western city late Monday after hours of clashes, said Mubarak al-Fatamni, the head of Bani Walid local council.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader, has died of heart failure. He was 69.

In a “special broadcast” Monday from the North Korean capital, state media said Kim died of a heart ailment on a train due to a “great mental and physical strain” on Dec. 17 during a “high intensity field inspection.” It said an autopsy was done on Dec. 18 and “fully confirmed” the diagnosis.

Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, but he had appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media. The communist country’s “Dear Leader” — reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine — was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.