Venezuela opposition says government broke election law
The Venezuelan opposition has made an official complaint against the government following allegations that it broke the law by continuing its electoral campaign on state television.
On the eve of the election, acting President Nicolas Maduro appeared on TV visiting the tomb of Hugo Chavez.
The opposition candidate Henrique Capriles said his opponent was "violating all the electoral norms".
On Saturday, he launched an internet channel to broadcast his own campaign.
Despite this, he said he had been "respecting the electoral rules, but those in power don't know anything other than the abuse of power".
Almost 19 million Venezuelans will have the right to vote on Sunday for a successor to Hugo Chavez.
Voting will be electronic - one machine will identify voters' fingerprints, and a second will recognise identity card numbers and register the vote anonymously.
Polls will open at 06:30 local time (10:30 GMT) and close 10 hours later, although they will stay open until all those queuing at closing time have voted.
The former president died on 5 March, after a two-year long battle against an undisclosed type of cancer, prompting a short electoral campaign period before Sunday's elections.
The winner is due to be sworn in on 19 April and serve until January 2019, to complete the six-year term that Mr Chavez would have begun in January.
New law to protect Puerto Rico leatherback turtles
Puerto Rico has introduced a new law protecting a swathe of the island's coast that has become a major nesting site for the world's largest turtle, the leatherback.
The Northeast Ecological Corridor comprises 14 sq km (5.4 sq miles) of the island's coast.
The law ends a 15-year battle which pitted developers against green activists and several celebrities.
Leatherback turtles are a highly endangered species.
"Today this important, highly ecologically valuable resource is being protected forever... History is being made," said Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, according to the island's Vocero news site.
Developers had been looking to build hotels, golf courses and luxury homes in the area, arguing that this would boost the local economy and create jobs.
But the area - boasting lush vegetation and pristine beaches - is now likely to become a centre for eco-tourism.
As well as being a nesting site for the leatherback turtle, the area is home to more than 860 different types of flora and fauna.
It also contains a bioluminescent bay, featuring micro-organisms which glow in the dark.
Leatherback turtles weigh around 600kg (95st) and their shells can be up to two metres (6ft 7in) long.
The shell is flexible and covered in a black leathery skin - hence the name leatherback.
Last August thousands of leatherback eggs and hatchlings were crushed by bulldozers moving waterlogged sand from key nesting areas.
13 die in gunfights with police in Mexico
Gunmen in Mexico opened fire on police and civilians Wednesday in two separate incidents, in which at least 13 people died, according to a government statement. One incident was gang related.
Federal Police officers aboard a helicopter spotted a suspicious convoy in the state of Michoacan. The occupants fired at them, the National Safety Commission said. The officers returned fire, killing five people, including an organized crime leader.
Police seized the gunmen's vehicles and found five assault rifles with magazines and other combat paraphernalia, the National Safety Commission said. Mexico has a reputation for strict gun ownership laws.
In the town of Apatzingan, gunmen opened fire twice on residents who were commemorating the anniversary of the death of a revolutionary figure popular in the region.
Federal Police returned fire and "shot down" one gunman, who was armed with a .50-caliber rifle, an AK-47 assault rifle and two pistols. It is not clear if the man died from his wounds.
Eight died when the same group, marching in a ceremonial parade, came under fire again. In addition, six civilians and two police officers were wounded.
Mexico's Federal Police are made up of multiple divisions, the largest of which is part of the military.
Grisly crime surges into spotlight
Clashes at Guantanamo over hunger strike prisoners
Prisoners and guards have clashed at Guantanamo Bay as authorities moved inmates, many of whom are on hunger strike, out of communal cellblocks.
The move came after detainees covered surveillance cameras and windows, a US Army spokesman said.
He said some prisoners used "improvised weapons" and in response "four less-than-lethal rounds" were fired.
The Pentagon says 43 prisoners are on hunger strike, but lawyers for the detainees say the number is higher.
Almost a dozen are being force-fed, according to military officials.
There were no "serious injuries to guards or detainees" in Saturday's clashes, according to Capt Robert Durand of the US military's Southern Command.
"I know for sure that one detainee was hit but the injuries were minor, just some bruises," another spokesman, Col Greg Julian, told the Associated Press.
Lawyers for some of the detainees condemned the camp authorities' actions.
Carlos Warner, who represents several detainees, told AP that "the military is escalating the conflict".
Hunger strikes have happened frequently at the US military prison, but this protest, which began in February, is reportedly one of the longest and most widespread.
However, Guantanamo officials deny claims that the strike began after copies of the Koran were mishandled during searches of prisoners' cells.
Human rights groups and lawyers representing the prisoners say it reflects growing frustration at the US military's failure to decide the detainees' future.
Nearly 100 of the detainees have been reportedly cleared for release but remain at the facility because of Congressional restrictions and also concerns of possible mistreatment if they are sent back to their home countries.
The military detention centre opened in 2002 to hold suspects captured in counter-terrorism operations after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.
Source--BBC
33 dead in Peru bus crash
A packed passenger bus tumbled into a river near the Peruvian city of Trujillo early Saturday, killing at least 33 people, state media reported, citing regional authorities.
The bus was carrying 43 seated passengers, but there were many others standing in the aisle, leading authorities to believe the death toll might rise, according to ANDINA, the state-run news agency.
Among the dead were many doctors and nurses, the agency reported.
Photos from the scene showed the mangled wreckage of the red bus in the middle of small rapids on the rocky Moche River, flanked on either side by steep green slopes.
The bus was heading from Huamacho to Trujillo when it went off the road and into the river, local police told ANDINA. Authorities believe the accident happened around 4:10 a.m. (5:10 a.m. ET), the agency reported.
9 Dead in Pakistan Blast
Pakistani police say a bomb blast on a bus killed nine people Saturday near the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Police say at least 15 people were injured in the blast in the suburban town of Matani.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing. Peshawar is frequently targeted by Pakistani Taliban as security forces have carried out several offensives against them and other militant groups in that area.
Kerry hails Chinese North Korea pledge
US Secretary of State John Kerry says China is "very serious" about a pledge to help resolve tensions over North Korea's nuclear programme.
The US and China earlier said they were committed to the "denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula.
Mr Kerry said the two sides would hold further meetings "to bear down very quickly" on how to achieve that goal.
North Korea has recently threatened attacks against South Korea and the US, amid a flurry of bellicose statements.
Speculation has also built that the North was preparing a missile launch, following reports that it had moved at least two Musudan ballistic missiles to its east coast.
Mr Kerry has said any such launch would be a "huge mistake".
After a day of meetings in Beijing with President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials on Saturday, he said both governments called on North Korea "to refrain from any provocative steps and that obviously refers to any future missile shoot".
Mr Kerry, who is on a four-day tour of Asia, continues to Japan on Sunday.
Pope picks cardinals to advise on Vatican reform
The Catholic Church's new leader has appointed a group of top churchmen to advise him on how to reform the Vatican's often arcane bureaucracy.
Pope Francis chose eight cardinals and a bishop who between them represent nearly every continent, and only one of whom is currently a Vatican official.
The bureaucracy, or Curia, has been blamed for the Church's hesitant response to sex abuse and other crises.
It is nearly 50 years since the Vatican's last major reforms.
The cardinals who elected Pope Francis last month were strongly critical about basic failings of the Curia under Pope Emeritus Benedict, the BBC's David Willey reports from Rome.
The cardinals include two Europeans (from Italy and Germany), two from Latin America (Chile and Honduras), one from the US, one from Asia (India), one African and one Australian. An Italian bishop will act as secretary.
Announcing the appointments, the Vatican said the pontiff had got the idea of forming the advisory body from meetings ahead of his election by cardinals last month.
Pope Paul VI undertook the last major reform of the Vatican bureaucracy in 1967.
The new group is to have its first meeting on 1-3 October.
Earlier this week Pope Francis met personally all 300 staff members of the Vatican's secretariat of state, the body responsible for carrying out Church policies.
Some radical reforms are expected soon, although the Pope is moving cautiously given the complexity and sensitivity of Church government, our correspondent says.
Scandals have included clerical sexual abuse, financial problems at the Vatican bank and the theft of documents from Benedict's desk.
Source-BBC
Plane Misses Runway in Indonesia
An airplane carrying more than 100 people overshot a runway on the Indonesian resort island of Bali and landed in the sea, but no one died in the accident.
Officials say all of the passengers and crew members were rescued after the aircraft went into the water Saturday and broke in two.
Dozens of people were treated for injuries.
TV footage showed police and rescuers using rubber boats to evacuate those on the Boeing 737 plane, operated by budget carried Lion Air.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Renenue Control Unit wants business persons to "Regularize their businesses or face penalties
Business persons could face stiff penalties for not regulating their businesses. That’s the word coming from the Revenue Control Unit on Thursday 11th April).
The Revenue Control Unit, Ministry of Finance, Trade and Tourism is reminding owners, managers and operators of businesses registered within the Turks and Caicos Islands, that those who fail to regularise their operations by month end, will face penalties.
The Unit has issued an appeal to all business operators and their agents noting that that as of April 10, 2013; they have 15 days in which to ensure that they are in good standing in relation to the payment of all fees, charges and arrears.
Following the expiration of the notice, TCIG will publish the names of those businesses that are not in good standing. In addition, individuals who fail to comply will have their Business Licenses suspended and revoked under Section 10 & 11 of the Business Licensing Ordinance.
Operators of businesses that have ceased operations are required under section 8 & 9 of the Business Licensing Ordinance, to give notice of changes in the particulars of the business, including the date the business ceased to operate. There are penalties for failing to adhere to these requirements which have been expressly provided in writing to all Licensee Holders.
The Unit advises that that this is their final appeal: Ensure that your Business License is current; otherwise TCIG will commence legal proceedings against all defaulters.