Kenya president rejects lavish pay for legislators

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's President has vetoed legislation in which members of parliament gave themselves a hefty send-off package in a late-evening vote on the last day of session before national elections.Mwai Kibaki Saturday ordered the attorney general to redraft the law to make it compliant with the constitution. The bill adopted Wednesday would give each parliamentarian a nearly $110,000...

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Somali pirates free 3 Syrian hostages

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A Somali official says three Syrian hostages held by Somali pirates have been released after more than two years in captivity.Mohamed Aden Ticey, an administrator based in Adado town in central Somalia, said Saturday no ransom was paid for their release.The three were the last to be freed of the 21 surviving crew of the ship MV Orna, owned by a company in the UAE. One crew...

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French commando killed in Somalia hostage raid

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A raid to free a French intelligence agent held captive in Somalia for three years went horribly wrong, leaving 17 Islamists and at least one French commando dead in a mud-caked farming town deep in militant territory.In the chaotic aftermath of the firefight, the hostage's fate was unclear Saturday. The Islamists denied French claims that he was killed and said they had...

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Venezuelan lawmakers meet to choose new leaders

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan lawmakers are meeting to select a new president of the National Assembly in a session that could give clues to the future of the country amid uncertainty about ailing President Hugo Chavez.Just five days remain until Chavez's scheduled inauguration on Thursday and officials are suggesting the swearing-in could be delayed.National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello...

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Chavez party proposes same legislative chief

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Allies of President Hugo Chavez are proposing to keep the same National Assembly president — a man who could be in line to step in as a caretaker leader in some circumstances.Saturday's session could give clues to the future of the country amid uncertainty about the health of ailing President Hugo Chavez.Just five days remain until Chavez's scheduled inauguration on Thursday...

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Chavez allies re-elect legislative chief

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.The vote to retain Diosdado Cabello as legislative leader signaled the ruling party's desire to stress unity and continuity amid growing signs the government plans to postpone Chavez's...

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Township fire in South Africa kills 3

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African media say three people died and 4,000 were displaced when fires swept through shacks in poor settlements in the Cape Town area on New Year's Day.Citing disaster management officials, the South African Press Association says the blazes broke out in Khayelitsha and Thembeni, densely populated areas where many residents live in makeshift homes.The worst fire started...

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61 killed in New Year's stampede in Ivory Coast

61 killed in New Year's stampede in Ivory CoastABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — At least 61 people were killed early Tuesday in a stampede following a New Year's fireworks display in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial center, said officials.The death toll is expected to rise, according to rescue workers.The majority of those killed were young people between eight and 15 years old who were trampled after...

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Central African Republic rebels ignore negotiation

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — President Francois Bozize's government came under growing threat Monday as rebels vowing to overthrow him rejected appeals from the African Union to hold their advance and try to form a coalition government.Meanwhile, dozens of troops from Republic of Congo arrived at sunset on New Year's Eve in Bangui, the capital, as part of an effort to step up the presence...

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Muslim scholars and clerics: suicide bombings are un-Islamic.

Suicide bombers in Afghanistan have shown little restraint: Wedding parties and even mosques and children have witnessed gruesome targeting by the Taliban against civilians.But as attacks soared in the summer and fall, killing scores of civilians every week – including at least 40 Muslim devotees at a mosque in late October –public revulsion has turned into unprecedented condemnation.For the first...

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Letters To God: Kenyans appeal for peaceful election

Five years after a disputed presidential election unleashed interethnic violence that scarred this East African nation, Kenyans are bracing for a new election amid fears of a fresh outbreak of bloodletting.But a growing number of Kenyans are challenging that fear with hope, with thousands taking up the call to “Write to God” with prayers that upcoming March 4 elections will be peaceful.One of the...

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Egypt finishes constitutional vote, but irregularities delay final results

Egyptian judges were investigating opposition accusations of voting irregularities today before declaring the result of a referendum set to show that a contentious new constitution has been approved.President Mohamed Morsi sees the basic law, drawn up mostly by Islamists, as a vital step in Egypt's transition to democracy almost two years after the fall of military-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak.The...

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Lebanese border means little in Syria's civil war

The four rain-filled bomb craters all visible within 100 yards of Mahmoud Ismael’s house starkly illustrate how Lebanon’s northern border has become an active frontline in Syria’s civil war, drawing in rival Lebanese Shiite and Sunni factions.A fifth shell had struck the edge of the roof, knocking out chunks of concrete and sending heavy steel shrapnel scything into the cement parapet and the soft...

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Could the US learn from Australia's gun-control laws?

Almost two weeks after a shooting spree stunned Australia in 1996, leaving 35 people dead at the Port Arthur tourist spot in Tasmania, the government issued sweeping reforms of the country’s gun laws. There hasn’t been a mass shooting since. Now, after the recent shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, Australia’s National Firearm Agreement (NFA), which saw hundreds of thousands of automatic...

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NYT: Windows 8 fails to excite, sales off to slow start

Windows 8 has failed to draw the excited masses that some earlier versions of Microsoft’s (MSFT) PC operating system had attracted, according to a report published Sunday by The New York Times. Microsoft and its partners hoped the new platform would be a catalyst in a weak PC market, but earlier reports suggested Windows 8 might not have a real impact on sale for quite some time. Now, Acer’s president...

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Sprint salesman refuses to sell iPhone to customer, says his ‘fingers are too fat’ to use it

We’ve known for a while now that some mobile carriers have been instructing their sales staff to start pushing their customers away from Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and toward Android or Windows Phone devices. The reason is simple: carriers pay a lot more to subsidize Apple’s popular smartphone than they do with other devices and they’d prefer to have higher gross margins at the end of each quarter. But...

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Instagram furor triggers first class action lawsuit

Facebook's Instagram photo sharing service has been hit with what appears to be the first civil lawsuit to result from changed service terms that prompted howls of protest last week.In a proposed class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Friday, a California Instagram user leveled breach of contract and other claims against the company."We believe this complaint is without merit...

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New iOS Device for the holidays? Download these games first!

Congratulations on your new iPhone or iPad! The first few days with a new iOS device can be daunting if you’re new to Apple’s walled garden. There are literally hundreds of thousands of apps available, and when it comes to gaming, there are a great many that aren’t worth your time, your hard drive space, or your $0.99. Wading through all those games can be tough, especially when user reviews are...

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Mattel and Hasbro said to be ‘terrified’ as more kids seek high-tech Christmas gifts

Back in the old days, American kids only wanted a Barbie doll or a G.I. Joe action figure for Christmas and all was right with the world. But times have changed, and today American children are looking to get more high-tech Christmas gift such as tablets, the Financial Times reports. In fact, today’s children are so interested in tablets and smartphones that major toy manufacturers Hasbro and Mattel...

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Australian Radio DJs Behind Prank Call Under Fire

An outpouring of anger is being directed today at the two Australian radio hosts after the death of a nurse who was caught in the DJs' prank call to hospital where Kate Middleton was treated earlier this week. Lord Glenarthur, the chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital - the U.K. hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment, condemned the prank in a letter to the Max Moore-Wilton,...

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