Ukraine ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko 'can return to prison'
Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is well enough to return to prison after spending nine months in hospital, the health ministry has said.
Tymoshenko was being treated for back problems after being jailed in 2011 for abuse of office.
Her supporters regard that conviction as politically motivated.
Last year she claimed to be too ill to attend court proceedings relating to a separate charge of misappropriation of public funds.
The Ukrainian authorities are also investigating allegations against her of tax evasion and involvement in murder.
Her conviction for abuse of office relates to a gas deal she signed with Russia as prime minister in 2009, which critics said paid Russia too high a price.
Her supporters say she was jailed to prevent her being a political threat to Viktor Yanukovych, the current president.
She remains a popular politician despite her imprisonment, after coming second to Mr Yanukovych in the 2010 presidential election.
Tymoshenko was a face of Ukraine's pro-democracy Orange Revolution alongside Mr Yanukovych's long-time rival Viktor Yushchenko.
Correspondents say the health ministry's announcement will make it difficult for her to avoid appearing in court.
Previously she has boycotted trial proceedings against her, and has also staged hunger strikes in protest at conditions in prison and alleged election fraud.
Oscar Pistorius granted bail in Reeva Steenkamp case
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who faces murder charges over the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, has been granted bail after a four-day hearing.
Magistrate Desmond Nair said the state had not made a case that he would flee, or that he had a violent character.
The Paralympic sprinter denies murder, saying he shot Reeva Steenkamp thinking she was an intruder at his home.
The next hearing in the case has been set for 4 June. Bail was set at 1m rand (£72,000; $113,000).
He was ordered to hand over his passport, avoid his home in Pretoria and report to a police station between 07:00 and 13:00 every Monday and Friday.
Mr Nair took almost two hours to deliver his judgement.
He criticised the testimony of detective Hilton Botha, saying he had not followed up important leads and had changed his testimony.
But the magistrate also said he had difficulty understanding why Mr Pistorius had opened fire in the way he did.
However, he said Mr Pistorius had "reached out to meet the state's case" and had given a full version of events at an early stage.
Mr Pistorius's family and supporters in the court gasped and cheered as the magistrate announced he would be freed on bail.
The hearing began on Tuesday and both prosecution and defence laid out their cases.
Prosecutors allege Mr Pistorius murdered his girlfriend after an argument at his Pretoria home in the early hours of 14 February.
Det Botha told the court that witnesses had heard shouting, screaming and gunfire from about 600m (2,000ft) away.
But later he changed his evidence to suggest the witnesses were much closer.
And on Thursday it emerged that Det Botha faces allegations of attempted murder, and he was removed from the case.
Mr Pistorius says he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder and shot her by accident.
Ms Steenkamp, 29, was a model and law graduate with a burgeoning television career.
Oscar Pistorius won gold medals at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.
In London he made history by becoming the first double-amputee to run in the Olympics, making the semi-final of the 400m.
Italy election: Bersani, Monti and Berlusconi campaign
Candidates in Italy's general election are completing their final day of campaigning ahead of two days of voting, beginning on Sunday.
The election is being closely watched in the eurozone, with the Italian government's future commitment to austerity measures under scrutiny.
Centre-left candidate Pier Luigi Bersani is currently leading the polls.
Coalitions led by current Prime Minister Mario Monti and ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi are also running.
The polls suggest there will also be a strong turnout for Beppo Grillo, a popular comedian who has campaigned against the political establishment.
The election is taking place amid a deep recession and austerity measures that have caused resentment among Italians.
It is being held two months early, after Mr Berlusconi's party withdrew its support for Mr Monti's technocratic government.
Mr Monti has introduced cuts to public services in an effort to reduce national borrowing and maintain the confidence of financial markets.
Eurozone worries
Mr Bersani, a former Communist, has pledged to continue with Mr Monti's reforms, but suggests current European policy needs to do more to promote growth and jobs.
However, recent weeks have seen a narrowing of his lead over the centre-right coalition of Mr Berlusconi, who is critical of austerity measures.
The election is being closely watched by economists, who are worried about the effect Italy's future policies may have on the eurozone economy.
London-based analysts Capital Economics said an unclear outcome to the election was its biggest concern.
"A hung parliament might plunge Italy and the eurozone back into crisis rather sooner," it said.
North Korea to offer mobile internet access
North Korean mobile phone provider Koryolink is planning to launch a 3G data service for foreign visitors and residents from abroad.
Egyptian telecoms firm Orascom, which is a partner in Koryolink, estimates that more than 1 million North Koreans use mobile phones.
They will not be able to use the new service, according to reports.
Orascom launched a 3G phone network inside North Korea in 2008, but users can only use it to make phone calls.
International calls, including calls to South Korea, are banned.
In January 2013 the government began allowing foreign visitors to bring their own mobile devices into the country with them for the first time.
Following a recent visit to the notoriously closed country, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt wrote in a blog post that North Korea's decision to isolate itself "is very much going to affect their physical world and their economic growth."
He added that it would be "very easy" for 3G internet access to be enabled on the existing service.
Current internet access is extremely limited for locals, with most people only having access to a small number of state-run pages.
North Korea expert Scott Thomas Bruce previously told the BBC this comprises mainly of "message boards, chat functions, and state sponsored media".
"The system they've set up is one that they can control and tear down if necessary," he said.
UN rejects Haiti cholera compensation claims
The United Nations has formally rejected compensation claims by victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed almost 8,000 people.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Haitian President Michel Martelly to inform him of the decision.
The UN says it is immune from such claims under the UN's Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN.
Evidence suggests cholera was introduced to Haiti through a UN base's leaking sewage pipes.
The UN has never acknowledged responsibility for the outbreak - which has infected more than 600,000 people - saying it is impossible to pinpoint the exact source of the disease, despite the mounting evidence the epidemic was caused by poor sanitation at a camp housing infected Nepalese peacekeepers.
In a terse statement, Mr Ban's spokesman said damages claims for millions of dollars filed by lawyers for cholera victims was "not receivable" under the 1947 convention that grants the UN immunity for its actions.
But a lawyer for the cholera victims told the BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN that UN immunity could not mean impunity, and said the case would now be pursued in a national court.
The lawyer, Brian Concannon, said the victims' legal team would challenge the UN's right to immunity from Haitian courts, on the grounds that it had not established an alternative mechanism for dealing with accountability issues, as stipulated in its agreement with the government.
He also said lifting immunity would not challenge UN policy, which is protected by the convention, but its practice, such as how to test troops for disease and properly dispose of sewage.
In December the UN launched a $2bn (£1.3bn) appeal to fight the cholera epidemic, which is currently the worst outbreak in the world, and Mr Ban reiterated to Mr Martelly the UN's commitment to the elimination of cholera in Haiti.
Cholera is a disease of poverty, analysts say. It is spread through infected faeces and, once it enters the water supply, it is difficult to stop - especially in a country like Haiti which has almost no effective sewage disposal systems.
Hugo Chavez's 'breathing problems persist'
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is still suffering breathing problems following his return from Cuba where he was treated for cancer, officials say.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Mr Chavez was continuing to receive treatment at a military hospital in Caracas.
It was the first official communique on the president's health since he returned to Venezuela on Monday.
Mr Chavez went to Havana for surgery on 11 December.
It was his fourth operation in an 18-month period for cancer, which was first diagnosed in mid-2011.
He is said to have suffered a severe respiratory infection following the latest surgery.
"The breathing insufficiency that emerged post-operation persists, and the tendency has not been favourable, so it is still being treated," Mr Villegas said in a televised statement.
President Chavez, in office for 14 years, was re-elected for another six-year term in October 2012, but his swearing-in was delayed because of his illness.
Doubts remain about whether his health will allow him to return to active politics.
Mexican police charged with rape of Italian
Two Mexican policemen have been charged with rape and abuse of authority after allegedly attacking an Italian woman in the resort of Playa del Carmen.
A third man, reportedly their commander, is still being sought.
It is alleged the woman was raped after being unable to pay a bribe for the officers to ignore an offence of urinating in public.
The incident comes just two weeks after six Spanish women were sexually assaulted by a gang in Acapulco.
Prosecutors in the state of Quintana Roo say the latest attack happened in an alleyway between two clubs in the Caribbean resort in the early hours of 12 February.
The woman said the officers raped her after she and her companion refused to hand over a bribe of 3,000 pesos (£150; $235).
She said they had gone into the alley after leaving a club and failing to find a public lavatory.
The BBC's Will Grant in Mexico says the tourism industry is increasingly concerned about the damaging effect such attacks have on business.
President Enrique Pena Nieto has vowed to tackle violent crime in Mexico since coming to power at the end of last year.
However, critics say a major overhaul of the local and federal police forces is needed to address endemic problems of corruption, violence and impunity.
Following the attack in Acapulco, six men were arrested. Our correspondent says the arrests came after intense international pressure on local authorities.
High turnout at Barbados polls
Local observers reported a steady stream of voters throughout the course of the day as the two competing parties assisted in ensuring their supporters reached one of the island’s 541 polling stations yesterday.
Among the mid-morning voters was Prime Minister Freundel Stuart who expressed concern about reports of alleged vote-buying by the opposition BLP. He however expressed confidence his party would be returned to office. “I am left with no doubt,” he said.
About an hour earlier, BLP leader Owen Arthur had cast his vote and told reporters he was “buoyed” by what was viewed then as a high voter turnout. Yesterday’s election climaxed a bruising campaign which focused almost exclusively on competing strategies to address the country’s increasingly unstable economy.
The DLP pointed to its ability to avoid defaulting on its international loans, as has been the case with several other Caribbean countries. BLP platform speakers, meanwhile, harped on what they argued was the Stuart administration’s inability to deal with high inflation, unemployment and a growing economic underclass.
T&T featured prominently on the DLP platform late Wednesday with claims by Finance Minister Christopher Sinckler and Agriculture Minister David Estwick that a win for the BLP would see the entry of more T&T investors who, in Estwick’s words, “want to buy everything in Barbados.”
BLP economic advisor, Clyde Mascoll, meanwhile, promised his party would reduce Value Added Tax (VAT), together with the fuel surcharge on electricity bills. He said during DLP rule since 2008, the poor had grown poorer and the middle class had struggled to survive.
In preparation for last evening’s vote count, the police announced crowd control measures to ensure victorious political celebrants did not break the law. All police leave was cancelled and all state security forces, including “government security guards”, were expected to take to the streets.
There were 247,211 registered voters with 68 DLP, BLP and other candidates seeking their support. Just 12 were female and there were 22 candidates who were newcomers to national election.
In 2008, the DLP won the election with 53.21 per cent of the popular vote, earning 20 seats in the process. The BLP lost its hold on power with 46.52 per cent of the vote, winning ten seats.
DLP leader David Thompson died in October 2010 and Stuart was nominated to replace him as prime minister. A Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES) poll published days before yesterday’s election had predicted a ten to 13 seat margin of victory for the BLP.
Haiti's 'Baby Doc' Duvalier avoids appearing in court
Haiti's former ruler Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier has been ordered to appear in court in Port-au-Prince after failing to attend a hearing.
Relatives of some of those allegedly killed or tortured by his militias in the 1970s and 1980s want him charged with crimes against humanity.
Mr Duvalier had filed a last-minute appeal to avoid appearing in court.
The ex-leader, who returned to Haiti in 2011 after 25 years in French exile, had already missed two hearings.
He denies all charges, with his lawyers saying the case should be thrown out.
The courtroom was packed with relatives of his victims, lawyers in black robes, human rights observers and journalists.
A Haitian human rights lawyer, Mario Joseph, said: "Duvalier is trying to control the justice system like when he was a dictator."
Human rights groups say hundreds of political prisoners died from torture or were murdered under Mr Duvalier's rule from 1971 to 1986.
His unexpected homecoming two years ago prompted the Haitian authorities to open an investigation.
In January 2012, a court decided Mr Duvalier should stand trial for embezzling public funds but ruled that the statute of limitations had run out on charges of murder, arbitrary arrest, torture and disappearances.
However, Amnesty International and the Open Society Justice Initiative said the former leader "must not evade justice" for crimes against humanity. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has also said Mr Duvalier should face justice.
The court in Port-au-Prince is hearing an appeal by victims challenging the January 2012 ruling regarding the charges of human rights abuses.
Any future trial would be a symbolically crucial moment and a potential turning point for Haiti, says the BBC's Mark Doyle.
There is a widespread feeling in that the judiciary is biased in favour of the rich, he adds.
The appeal court already ordered Mr Duvalier twice to appear to answer the charges - once on 31 January and again on 7 February.
A judge ruled the ex-leader would be arrested if he did not turn up on Thursday.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are observing the case in the capital.
Jean-Claude Duvalier was just 19 when he inherited the title of president-for-life from his father, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, who had ruled Haiti since 1957.
Like his father, he relied on a brutal militia known as the Tontons Macoutes to control the country.
In 1986 he was forced from power by a popular uprising and US diplomatic pressure, and went into exile in France.
Eurozone downturn and deficits to persist, Commission says
The eurozone recession will persist into 2013, the European Commission has conceded in its latest forecast.
Governments face an uphill battle to rein in their overspending, with Spain, France and Portugal all failing to cut their deficits to agreed targets.
Spain's deficit, at 10.2% of GDP in 2012, was well above its 6.3% target, and would stay above target into 2014.
The eurozone economy would shrink 0.3% in 2013, the Commission said, making the governments' task even harder.
Previously, the Commission had expected the 17 economies in the eurozone to collectively enjoy 0.1% positive growth this year. In 2012 the economy is estimated to have shrunk 0.6%.
Delivering its winter forecast, Commission Vice-President Olli Rehn said that unemployment across the single currency area expected to continue rising to 12.2% this year as the recession lingers. Last year's jobless rate was 11.4%.
However, he said the eurozone was expected to rebound in the last three months of this year, registering 0.7% growth in the fourth quarter.
The forecast appears somewhat more pessimistic than the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who last month said he believed the eurozone would begin recovering in the second half of this year.
The Commission's acknowledgement that the eurozone is in worse economic shape than previously mirrors a change in the International Monetary Fund's thinking. The IMF said in January that it expected the eurozone to experience a "mild recession" in 2013, having previously predicted growth.