| Venezuela lawmakers elect Chavez ally as Assembly chief Posted: 05 Jan 2013 02:50 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan lawmakers re-elected a staunch ally of Hugo Chavez to head the National Assembly on Saturday, putting him in line to be caretaker president if the socialist leader does not recover from cancer surgery. By choosing the incumbent, Diosdado Cabello, the "Chavista"-dominated legislature cemented the combative ex-soldier's position as the third most powerful figure in the government, after Chavez and Vice President Nicolas Maduro. "As a patriot ... ...
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| Sudan, South Sudan agree once again to set up buffer zone Posted: 05 Jan 2013 01:09 PM PST  ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan agreed on Saturday to set up a demilitarized zone along their disputed border, a condition for restarting oil exports, an African Union mediator said on Saturday, without giving a time frame. Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir had agreed in September to withdraw their armies from the border area, a move both say is necessary to allow oil to flow again from landlocked South Sudan through Sudan. After weeks of deadly clashes early last year the two came close to all-out war but agreed a ceasefire in April. ...
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| Assad to make rare speech as Syrian rebels draw nearer Posted: 05 Jan 2013 03:54 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will deliver a rare speech on Sunday about the uprising against his rule, which has killed 60,000 people and brought civil war to the edge of his capital. With insurgents fighting their way closer to the seat of his power, state media said in a statement that Assad would speak on Sunday morning about the "latest developments in Syria and the region", without giving details. ...
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| Indian rape victim's father says he wants her named Posted: 05 Jan 2013 04:32 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - The father of an Indian woman whose brutal rape and torture provoked international outrage said in an interview published on Sunday that he wanted her name to be made public so she could be an inspiration to other victims of sexual assault. The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died on December 28 in a Singapore hospital, two weeks after a gang rape on a bus in New Delhi that ignited street protests across India and prompted promises from the government for tougher punishments for offenders. ...
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| Netanyahu's rivals eye centre-left pact for Israel vote Posted: 05 Jan 2013 11:26 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Three Israeli parties on Saturday proposed forming a center-left opposition bloc to try to topple conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the January 22 election, but disagreements over the terms suggested any pact could be elusive. Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, head of the centrist Hatenuah party, said on Twitter that she and leaders of the centrist Yesh Atid and left-leaning Labour parties would "discuss the creation of a 'united front' to work together to replace Netanyahu". ...
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| Man arrested after shots fired at Northern Irish police in flag riots Posted: 05 Jan 2013 02:26 PM PST  BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Irish police arrested a 38-year-old man on Saturday on suspicion of attempted murder after shots were fired at police officers during protests over the removal of the British flag from Belfast City Hall. Police used water cannon against more than 100 protesters hurling fireworks, smoke bombs and bricks in the eastern part of the city shortly after a demonstration outside City Hall calling for the flag to be reinstated on a permanent basis. ...
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| North Korea trip by Richardson, Schmidt set for next week Posted: 05 Jan 2013 04:05 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt will lead a private humanitarian mission to North Korea next week, Richardson's office confirmed in a statement Saturday. Richardson will hold a press conference at the Beijing airport next Thursday, but no media will be accompanying the delegation, according to the statement. The trip comes despite public criticism from the U.S. State Department, which has said the visit was ill-timed in light of tensions stemming from North Korea's recent rocket launch. ...
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| Fugitive Saddam deputy lends support to Iraq Sunni protests Posted: 05 Jan 2013 02:14 PM PST  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The most senior member of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's entourage still at large has urged Sunni Muslim anti-government protesters to stand their ground until the Shi'ite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, is toppled. Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri heads Saddam's now-banned Baath party, whose leaders fled or went underground after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that overthrew the Sunni strongman and empowered the Shi'ite majority. ...
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| Boy killed at holiday parade in southern Spain Posted: 05 Jan 2013 12:49 PM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - A six-year-old boy was killed in an accident at a traditional festive parade on Saturday in Malaga on Spain's southern Costa del Sol, local authorities said. The child died at the city's annual "cabalgata" parade to mark the arrival of the Three Kings said to have followed the Star of Bethlehem to bring presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Christ. These parades take place across Spain in early January, with the most spectacular in the capital Madrid. ...
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| Egypt fires finance, interior ministers before IMF visit Posted: 05 Jan 2013 02:04 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Mursi fired his finance and interior ministers, cabinet sources said on Saturday, in a government reshuffle he had promised to assuage public anger at an economic crisis. General Mohamed Ibrahim will replace Ahmed Gamal El-Din as interior minister and Al-Mursi Al-Sayed Hegazy takes the finance ministry job from Mumtaz al-Saaed. ...
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| Syrian president to give speech Sunday Posted: 05 Jan 2013 12:15 PM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad will deliver a speech on Sunday in a rare address to the nation, state media said, as rebels fighting to topple his embattled regime pressed ahead with an offensive on the capital.
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| Rebels in C. African Republic seize another town Posted: 05 Jan 2013 08:54 AM PST  BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Rebels in Central African Republic seized control of another town on Saturday, just days before they are to begin negotiations with the government in nearby Gabon.
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| India gang-rape victim's friend recounts attack Posted: 05 Jan 2013 04:05 AM PST  NEW DELHI (AP) — Passers-by refused to stop to help a naked, bleeding gang-rape victim after she was dumped from a bus onto a New Delhi street, and police delayed taking her to a hospital for 30 minutes, the woman's male companion said in an interview. It was his first public account of the gruesome attack that killed the 23-year-old student and prompted demands for reform of a law enforcement culture seen as lax in crimes against women.
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| Starbucks enters entrenched Vietnam coffee market Posted: 04 Jan 2013 11:46 PM PST  HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Nghiem Ngoc Thuy has been slinging coffees to thirsty Vietnamese for 20 years in her colonial-style villa with peeling shutters, and she and her customers aren't too worried that the imminent arrival of U.S. giant Starbucks will alter their time-tested coffee traditions.
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| Violence in Northern Ireland for 3rd day over flag Posted: 05 Jan 2013 08:42 AM PST  BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Northern Ireland police used water cannons to fend off brick-hurling protesters in Belfast on Saturday as violent demonstrations over flying the British flag stretched into a third straight day.
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| Missoni scion on plane missing in Venezuela Posted: 05 Jan 2013 04:11 PM PST  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Rescue crews used boats and aircraft on Saturday to search for a small plane that disappeared off Venezuela carrying the CEO of Italy's iconic Missoni fashion house and five other people.
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| Hugo Chavez's allies re-elect legislative chief Posted: 05 Jan 2013 04:41 PM PST  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Allies of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez on Saturday chose to keep the same National Assembly president — a man who could be in line to step in as a caretaker leader in some circumstances.
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| 6 Russians die in snowmobile crash in Italy Posted: 05 Jan 2013 08:29 AM PST  ROME (AP) — Six Russians were killed and two seriously injured when the snowmobile and sled they were riding veered off an Italian Alpine ski slope at night, slammed into a barrier and flew through the air into a ravine.
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| AP Photos: Dubai makes bid to be City of Gold Posted: 05 Jan 2013 07:24 AM PST  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai is sometimes called the "City of Gold" because of its stunning growth from a sleepy Gulf port to a world-famous business crossroads in the space of a single generation. Its nickname has a literal meaning for traders in the precious metal.
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