Afghanistan: Blast kills 7 civilians after raid

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An explosion Sunday killed seven Afghan villagers as they tried to pull bodies of dead insurgents from the rubble of a village mosque after a night raid by NATO and Afghan troops, officials said. Four insurgents and an Afghan soldier were also reported killed in the operation.Night raids have long been a contentious issue between Afghanistan's president, who says he does...

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Pakistan sacks provincial government after attack

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani leaders dismissed the government of southwest Baluchistan province early Monday in response to the demands of protesters angry about an attack on minority Shiite Muslims there that killed 86 people.In another part of the country, a roadside bomb killed 14 Pakistani soldiers.Over the past three days, thousands of Shiites have blocked a main road in the Baluchistan...

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Correction: Philippines-Fatal Fire story

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — In a story Jan. 12 about a hotel fire that killed seven people in Olongapo, Philippines, The Associated Press misspelled a victim's surname based on incorrect information provided by city police. He was James Brighenti from Kodiak, Alaska, not James Brigati.A corrected version of the story is below:3 US men, SKorean among 7 dead in Philippine fire3 Americans, South Korean...

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Rebels in C. African Republic seize another town

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.Alindao town was taken by rebels of the Seleka alliance, who now control 11 cities and towns, according to residents of a nearby community."In the early morning hours the attackers burst into Alindao...

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Zimbabwe bus crash kills 8

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean police say eight people died in a bus crash that has brought the traffic accident death toll during the holiday period to the highest on record in the southern African nation.Police officials in the second city of Bulawayo said Sunday that eight died and 57 were injured Saturday in western Zimbabwe when their bus, headed for neighboring Botswana, veered off the highway...

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S. Africa sends troops to Central African Republic

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The South African presidency announced Sunday that is sending 400 army troops to Central African Republic to help the country's army as it faces a threat from a coalition of rebel groups.Sending soldiers to Central African Republic is part of South Africa's efforts "to bring about peace and stability in the region," said the announcement by President Jacob Zuma's office.Central...

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Venezuelans on edge amid shifting news on Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez alike nervously welcomed the new year Tuesday, left on edge by shifting signals from the government about the Venezuelan leader's condition three weeks after cancer surgery in Cuba.With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised interview in Cuba that he had...

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Chavez's VP says ailing leader still 'delicate'

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice president is returning home Wednesday from a visit with Hugo Chavez in Cuba and says the ailing president's condition remains "delicate" three weeks after his cancer surgery.With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that he had met with the president twice and had spoken with him."He's totally...

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Venezuela opposition: Chavez secrecy feeds rumors

Venezuela opposition: Chavez secrecy feeds rumorsCARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's opposition demanded that the government reveal specifics of President Hugo Chavez's condition Wednesday, criticizing secrecy surrounding the ailing leader's health more than three weeks after his cancer surgery in Cuba.Opposition coalition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said at a news conference that the information...

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Venezuelan gov't: Chavez fighting lung infection

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's government says President Hugo Chavez is being treated for a respiratory deficiency after complications from a severe lung infection.Information Minister Ernesto Villegas provided the update on the ailing president's condition Thursday night. He read from a statement saying that Chavez's lung infection had led to "respiratory deficiency" and required strict compliance...

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Disputes brewing over Hugo Chavez's inauguration

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez is due to be sworn in for a new term in less than a week and his closest allies still aren't saying what they plan to do if the ailing leader is unable to return from a Cuban hospital to take the oath of office.The Venezuelan government on Thursday night described Chavez's lung infection as "severe" and said he is now being treated for "respiratory deficiency."Chavez...

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AP Interview: Opposition leader says constitution illegitimate, vows liberal parliament win

CAIRO - One of Egypt's leading opposition figures pledges continued resistance to his country's constitution even if it is declared to have passed, contending that the process was fundamentally illegitimate. Unofficial tallies say nearly two-thirds voted in favour of the Muslim-friendly constitution, but turnout was low. Hamdeen Sabahi, who placed third in the nation's first free presidential race...

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Newtown marks the holiday: 'Christmas will never be the same'

Residents of Newtown prepared on Monday to observe Christmas. Tiny, empty red stockings sewn with the victims' names hung from trees in the neighbourhood where the 20 children and six adults were shot in a school. A steady stream of people lit candles and dropped off toys at a memorial filled with stuffed animals, poems, flowers, posters and cards. "All the families who lost those little kids, Christmas...

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Bethlehem enjoys merry Christmas as thousands of pilgrims flock to Jesus' biblical birth town

Thousands of Christians from the world over packed Manger Square in Bethlehem Monday to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the ancient West Bank town where he was born. For their Palestinian hosts, this holiday season was an especially joyous one, with the hardships of the Israeli occupation that so often clouded previous Christmas Eve celebrations eased by the United Nations' recent recognition of an...

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If US falls off 'fiscal cliff,' economy could get soft landing - or dizzy dive onto the rocks

WASHINGTON - Efforts to save the nation from going over a year-end "fiscal cliff" were in disarray as lawmakers fled the Capitol for their Christmas break. "God only knows" how a deal can be reached now, House Speaker John Boehner declared. President Barack Obama, on his way out of town himself, insisted a bargain could still be struck before Dec. 31. "Call me a hopeless optimist," he said. A look...

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New Jersey pension fund sues NYSE Euronext on ICE deal

A pension fund that holds shares of NYSE Euronext has sued the exchange operator over its proposed $8.2 billion sale to IntercontinentalExchange Inc , saying the deal undervalues the company's stock. The New Jersey Carpenters Pension Fund late on Friday filed a complaint in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan contending that NYSE Euronext breached its duty to maximize returns for shareholders....

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Pope pardons ex-butler who stole, leaked documents

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI granted his former butler a Christmas pardon Saturday, forgiving him in person during a jailhouse meeting for stealing and leaking private papers in one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.After the 15-minute meeting, Paolo Gabriele was freed and returned to his Vatican City apartment where he lives with his wife and three children. The Vatican...

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Pope grants pre-Christmas pardon to former butler

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict made a surprise pre-Christmas visit to the jail holding his former butler on Saturday and pardoned him for stealing and leaking documents that alleged corruption in the Holy See.The pope and Paolo Gabriele spent about 15 minutes together before Gabriele was freed and allowed to return to his family in their Vatican apartment, a Vatican spokesman said.Gabriele...

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Merkel rival attacks Germany's soaring arms exports

BERLIN (Reuters) - Peer Steinbrueck, set to challenge Angela Merkel as German leader next year, criticized her centre-right government on Saturday for letting arms exports surge and vowed to end that if his centre-left opposition wins power.The former finance minister, nominated to lead the Social Democrats (SPD) into September's election against Merkel, said it was a scandal that Germany has become...

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Car bomb kills five in Damascus: Syrian Observatory

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed five people and wounded dozens in the eastern Damascus district of Qaboun on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Another activist group in Damascus gave no figures for the number of people killed in the blast but said bodies were still being recovered from wreckage caused by the explosion.The British-based Observatory, which monitors violence...

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