UN peace envoy to meet Russian, US officials on Syria
UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was set to meet top US and Russian officials Friday to discuss the Syrian conflict, a day after Damascus denounced his "bias" against President Bashar al-Assad.
12 January 2013 14:35
Venezuelans swear 'absolute loyalty' to Chavez
Thousands of Venezuelans fervently swore "absolute loyalty" to Hugo Chavez Thursday in a giant rally for the cancer-stricken president on what was to have been his inauguration.
US will stand by Afghanistan, Panetta tells Karzai
The United States sought to assure Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday that it would remain committed to his country even as US officials weigh a major withdrawal of American forces.
Obama lines up Jack Lew for Treasury
President Barack Obama was expected to name Washington veteran Jack Lew as his next Treasury chief as early as Thursday, stocking his team for the next tense budget showdown with Republicans.
China paper: regulation must 'keep pace with the times'
A Chinese newspaper at the centre of a dispute over censorship said Thursday that Communist regulation of the media must "keep pace with the times", in its first edition since the row began.
Czechs to vote in first direct presidential election
Czechs vote Friday and Saturday in their country's first direct presidential election, with recession, austerity and graft weighing heavily on the nation as it turns the page on a decade under ardent eurosceptic Vaclav Klaus.
Egypt's Morsi to urge Obama to free blind sheikh
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has said he will urge US President Barack Obama to free the blind sheikh jailed for the 1993 World Trade Center attack.