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• Explosions in two Syrian cities kill at least three
• Egypt imposes curfew, deploys army after protests
• Conservative factions dominate Iran's run-off elections
• Hollande favorite as French prepare for Sunday vote
• Merkel's party set for photo finish in state vote
• Putin says ready to "go far" in U.S. relations: Ifax
• Five killed and two wounded in Mexico City shootout
• Armenia hopes for calm election, democratic outcome
• Netanyahu is mistaken on Iran, says election rival
• Backing EU path, Serbian right wing bids for power
• 9/11 defendants ignore judge at Guantanamo hearing
• Egypt military detains hundreds following violence
• Polls open in France's overseas territories
• Putin returns to presidency in a changed Russia
• Afghan child bride's in-laws sentenced for torture
• Fire at Peru rehab center kills 14
• Ahmadinejad's support crumbles in Iran runoff
• Syrian activists: Explosion in Aleppo kills 5
• Clinton says Bangladesh's parties must end discord
• Ex-Milosevic allies front-runners in Serbia vote

Explosions in two Syrian cities kill at least three Posted: DAMASCUS (Reuters) - An explosion killed several people in Aleppo and two blasts hit a Damascus highway on Saturday in further signs that rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad are shifting tactics towards homemade explosives. Syria's state news agency said three people had been killed, one of them a child, and 21 wounded by a booby-trapped car in the northern city of Aleppo. ...

Egypt imposes curfew, deploys army after protests Posted: CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military rulers on Saturday imposed an overnight curfew and deployed soldiers around the Defence Ministry to deter a repeat of Friday's deadly violence, less than three weeks before a presidential vote. One soldier died and almost 400 people were wounded in Friday's clashes, the second time in a week that protests over the army's handling of Egypt's troubled transition from army rule to civilian government have turned violent. The military imposed a 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. ...

Conservative factions dominate Iran's run-off elections Posted: DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, now out of favor with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suffered more setbacks in a run-off parliamentary election seen as a pointer for next year's presidential race, results showed on Saturday. The authorities hailed the outcome as a resounding triumph for Iran as it prepares for nuclear negotiations with the West. ...

Hollande favorite as French prepare for Sunday vote Posted: Campaigning ended on Saturday in France for a decisive second-round presidential vote expected to crown Francois Hollande the country's first Socialist leader in two decades despite polls showing President Nicolas Sarkozy clawing back some ground. Sunday's election, which coincides with parliamentary polls in Greece, may prove decisive for the direction of Europe as Hollande has promised he will try to temper a German-led austerity drive across Europe and reorientate the recession-struck euro zone towards growth. ...

Merkel's party set for photo finish in state vote Posted: BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel's conservatives face a photo-finish state vote in Germany's north on Sunday, knowing that losing power in Schleswig-Holstein could give vital momentum to the opposition and dent the chancellor's 2013 re-election hopes. Merkel's resolute stance through the dramas of the euro zone crisis has left her personal popularity intact. But her national centre-right coalition is in jeopardy after a slump in public support for her junior coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP), due to their infighting and prickly leaders. ...

Putin says ready to "go far" in U.S. relations: Ifax Posted: Russia's President-elect Vladimir Putin is ready to go far in developing ties between Russia and the United States provided the relationship is equal, Interfax news agency quoted Putin's foreign policy aide as saying on Saturday. Putin discussed bilateral relations at a closed-door meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama's top security aide Tom Donilon at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow on Friday, three days before his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin. ...

Five killed and two wounded in Mexico City shootout Posted: MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Five young people died and two others were seriously wounded after a gunfight in eastern Mexico City on Saturday, authorities said. The prosecutors' office in Mexico City said two of the dead were female, aged 14 and 20. The male victims were 17, 22 and "about 20", a spokeswoman for the office said. The sex and precise age of the two wounded was still unclear, she added. The shooting took place early on Saturday in Iztapalapa, a poor, crowded district that has struggled with crime. Two cars were found at the scene, one of which contained the bodies of the two girls. ...

Armenia hopes for calm election, democratic outcome Posted: YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenia holds a parliamentary election on Sunday which leaders hope will reinforce stability and be free of the fraud and violence that marred the South Caucasus country's last national polls. The biggest parties in the coalition government, President Serzh Sarksyan's Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, are expected to remain the strongest in the former Soviet republic of 3.3 million. ...

Netanyahu is mistaken on Iran, says election rival Posted: JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A key rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized his hawkish stance on Iran's nuclear program on Saturday, making the issue a central theme for parliamentary elections expected this year. "It's a most serious mistake to turn the issue of defense against Iran into Israel's biggest problem," Shelly Yechimovitch, leader of the left-of-centre Labour party, said in a televised interview. ...

Backing EU path, Serbian right wing bids for power Posted: BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's right-wing opposition bids for power on Sunday in knife-edge elections marked by an unprecedented pro-European consensus more than a decade since the fall of nationalist strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Liberals who took power in 2000 face their strongest challenge yet from the opposition led by Tomislav Nikolic, once demonized by the West as Milosevic's spiritual heir but who says he now shares the goal of taking Serbia into the European Union. ...

9/11 defendants ignore judge at Guantanamo hearing Posted: They knelt in prayer, ignored the judge and wouldn't listen to Arabic translations as they confronted nearly 3,000 counts of murder. The self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four co-defendants defiantly disrupted an arraignment that dragged into Saturday night in the opening act of the long-stalled effort to prosecute them in a military court.

Egypt military detains hundreds following violence Posted: Egypt's military officials moved swiftly Saturday to prosecute protesters they blamed for an attack on the Defense Ministry, in an attempt to put down increasingly violent protests against their authority just weeks before the country's presidential election.

Polls open in France's overseas territories Posted: Voters in France's overseas territories began casting ballots for Nicolas Sarkozy or Francois Hollande on Saturday in a presidential election that could affect everything from Europe's efforts to fight its debt crisis to how long French troops stay in Afghanistan.

Putin returns to presidency in a changed Russia Posted: Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency on Monday will technically give him greater powers than he wielded as prime minister. The irony is that his position will be arguably weaker than at any time since he first came to power more than 12 years ago.

Afghan child bride's in-laws sentenced for torture Posted: The in-laws of a child bride who became the bruised and bloodied face of women's rights in Afghanistan have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for torture, abuse and human rights violations, a judge said Saturday.

Fire at Peru rehab center kills 14 Posted: A predawn fire swept through a drug rehabilitation center in a town on Lima's outskirts Saturday, killing 14 people in the second blaze in Peru this year to claim the lives of addicts trapped behind locked doors in a private treatment residence.

Ahmadinejad's support crumbles in Iran runoff Posted: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's support in Iran's parliament crumbled as final results released Saturday showed conservative rivals consolidating their hold on the legislative body in a runoff vote.

Syrian activists: Explosion in Aleppo kills 5 Posted: An explosion in a car wash in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo killed at least five people on Saturday, activists said, while another blast in the capital destroyed nine cars.

Clinton says Bangladesh's parties must end discord Posted: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday urged Bangladesh's feuding political leaders to work together and end their most recent bout of discord for the good of their impoverished country.

Ex-Milosevic allies front-runners in Serbia vote Posted: Former ultranationalist allies of Slobodan Milosevic may return to power in Serbia, 12 years after the late Balkan strongman was ousted by pro-Western forces seeking European Union membership.

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