Venezuela calls pro-Chavez rally on inauguration day
Venezuela's authorities have urged President Chavez's supporters to join a major rally on Thursday, when he is due to be sworn in for a fourth term.
Mr Chavez, in hospital in Cuba after cancer surgery, is unlikely to attend.
But Venezuelan National Assembly Speaker Diosdado Cabello said many heads of state would be in Caracas to show their support.
The Catholic Church says ministers risk violating the constitution and the opposition have called for protests.
The opposition insist new elections should be called within 30 days if Mr Chavez is unable to take the oath on 10 January.
The 58-year-old Venezuelan leader, who has been in power since 1999, has not been seen in public since his latest operation last month, and government officials have acknowledged that he has suffered complications caused by a lung infection.
The president's condition was "stable", Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said in a televised statement late on Monday.
Predicting a major pro-Chavez demonstration, the speaker of the assembly appealed to opposition leaders to act responsibly on Thursday and warned: "We will stop any attempt to destabilise the government".
"There will be a big gathering here in Caracas on 10 January. All of Venezuela is going to come to Caracas and be in front of the Miraflores (Presidential) Palace. The people will be on the streets," Mr Cabello said. Earlier, the Venezuelan Catholic Church said it would be a morally unacceptable violation of the constitution to allow Mr Chavez to remain in power after missing his inauguration.
The head of the Venezuelan Conference of Bishops, Diego Padron, said Mr Chavez had to attend his inauguration when his term ended on 10 January.
"It is not our job to intervene publically, but in this case the good of the country and the defence of ethics are at stake. To alter the constitution to attain a political objective is morally unacceptable," added Monsignor Padron.
The assembly speaker hit back, insisting that the government "had always respected the constitution and would continue to do so".
"We believe the call made by the Bishops' Conference today is aimed at the sectors of the opposition and the high echelons of the Church who took active part in the 2002 coup attempt (against President Hugo Chavez)," he said.
Diosdado Cabello was re-elected as speaker on Saturday.
If Mr Chavez does not take the oath of office, the Speaker of the National Assembly should act as caretaker president until new elections are held within 30 days, the opposition say.
In the absence of President Chavez, Mr Cabello and Vice-President Nicolas Maduro are in effect running the country.
Attorney-General Cilia Flores said on Sunday that Mr Chavez could be sworn in at a later date.
--BBC
Mr Chavez is a "re-elected president, not an elected candidate", said Ms Flores, adding that the key date was 7 October when President Chavez was elected for his fourth term.
'PNM will not be bullied into supporting bill'
Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley has said that while the PNM is 100 per cent in support of more autonomy for Tobago, it will not be bullied into voting for the Tobago Bill unless the people are consulted on the provisions contained in it.
Rowley was speaking at a press conference at the offices of the Parliament yesterday where he stated the Opposition's position on the Constitutional (Amendment) (Tobago) Bill 2012 which was laid in the Parliament yesterday. Debate on the Bill is carded to begin next Wednesday.
"We of the PNM, we are no fly by night political party, we are not fearful of any threats or any consequences as threatened by the Prime Minister and we will no participate in any substandard approach to treating with this because the outcome of this legislation will be influenced and impacted by its process, said Rowley.
"In so far as there is a requirement for the PNM votes to advance this, such votes will not be used to advance the UNC's election campaign in Tobago. They could say what they want in Tobago, we believe that the people of Trinidad and Tobago are not stupid," he added.
Rowley said he does not expect any negative reaction from the Opposition's position as the people of Tobago are not stupid.
"We believe the people of Tobago will understand that the PNM is 100 per cent of Tobago getting an improvement in its autonomous arrangements...but that support is not going to come in this form of bullying to pass possibly bad law in an uninformed environment where the outcome good as it may be will be tarnished and stained by the population thinking that we did not understand what the Government had done," said Rowley.
Rowley said the Tobago Bill is a "major position" as it seeks to amend the country's Constitution to fundamentally alter the relationship between Trinidad and Tobago.
He noted that if the Opposition does not support the bill—which requires a three quarters majority—then the bill will go no where.
"The Prime Minister comes to Tobago locks arm with the minority leader, create something that we are seeing for the first time, comes in to the Parliament, shamelessly is praising the minority leader who she is campaigning with as part of her election campaign and is demanding that we her friends on the other side must vote for this creature that she has created," he said.
All of this, he said, was being done just before the THA election.
"I am not aware that the people of Tobago are aware of what is in this (bill) and that is wrong. If it is going to be enacted into law the least the Government was required to do is to let this country know what is in this bill," he said.
--T.E
Honduras police seize $50,000 gold-plated AK-47 rifle
The authorities in Honduras have seized a gold-plated, jewel-encrusted AK-47 assault rifle, complete with two silver magazines.
The gun, estimated to be worth more than $50,000 (£30,000), is believed to belong to drug traffickers.
Following a tip-off, police also found a number of weapons, along with other military equipment and passports.
Two security guards were detained during the raid at a ranch 300km (186 miles) from the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Honduran authorities said the gold-plated rifle had an engraving associated with the Malverde drug gang - which is allegedly connected to Mexico's Zetas cartel.
"It's an exclusive design and a fine carving," said police chief Leonel Sauceda.
More than 30 other weapons were found, including assault rifles, grenade launchers and grenades, night-vision kits, bayonets and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Police also found bullet-proof vests and 11 cars and two car-removal lorries.
Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world, according to a UN ranking, with nearly 92 killings per 100,000 habitants in 2011.
Cat 'arrested' for break-in at Brazilian prison
A cat has been detained in the grounds of a jail in Brazil with contraband goods for prisoners strapped to its body with tape.
The white cat was apprehended crossing the main prison gate.
The incident took place at a jail in Arapiraca city, 250km (155 miles) south-west of Recife in Alagoas state.
The confiscated items included drill bits, files, a mobile phone and charger, plus earphones The cat was taken to a local animal centre.
The jail holds some 263 prisoners.
A prison spokesperson was quoted by local paper Estado de S. Paulo as saying: "It's tough to find out who's responsible for the action as the cat doesn't speak."
Officials said the items could be used to effect a means of escape or for communicating with criminals on the outside.
The incident took place at New Year, but the photo has only recently been released.
--BBC
Mali army 'fire on Islamists' in response to incursion
Malian soldiers have fired on Islamist fighters in the centre of the country, military sources say.
It the first significant fighting reported between the two sides since Islamist and Tuareg rebels seized control of the north of the country last April.
The Islamists had reportedly tried to make an advance into the government-controlled south.
It is not clear whether there were any casualties.
The army used artillery against the Islamist fighters in the village of Gnimignama, 30km (19 miles) from army positions, according to army sources.
"Jihadist elements" are now deployed on several points along the frontier between the two sides, from the Mauritanian border in the west to the Douentza region in the east, Malian Defence Minister Col Yamoussa Camara told Radio France International.
Representatives of the Malian government and Islamist and Tuareg rebels are due to hold talks in neighbouring Burkina Faso on 10 January.
The rebels seized power in the the north in the chaos following an army coup in March.
The alliance between the Islamists and Tuaregs quickly collapsed, with the Islamists taking the region's main urban centres.
The Islamist groups have since destroyed ancient shrines in Timbuktu and imposed a brutal version of Islamic law, sparking international outrage.
Last month the UN Security Council gave its backing for an African-led military operation to help Mali's government retake the north if no peaceful solution could be found in the coming months.
Regional bloc Ecowas says it has 3,300 troops ready to go to Mali - although an operation is not expected to begin before September 2013.
A day after the UN resolution, the Islamist Ansar Dine group and the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA), a Tuareg separatist group, said they were committed to finding a negotiated solution.
Pakistani Suspect Pleads Innocent in British and US Terror Plots
A Pakistani man pled not guilty Monday in an alleged al-Qaida plot to set off terrorist bombs in New York and Manchester, England.
Abid Naseer entered his plea in a U.S. federal court in Brooklyn, New York — where he was extradited from Britain last week. The judge ordered him to remain in jail at least until his next scheduled court appearance in March.
The European Court of Human Rights rejected Naseer's appeal against extradition to the United States. Naseer argued that he could wind up back in Pakistan, where he says he would be tortured.
Naseer is charged in separate plots to set off bombs in Manchester and in the New York City subway at the height of rush hour to maximize casualties.
A co-defendant, Adis Medunjanin, is already spending life in prison for his role. Naseer faces the same sentence if he is also convicted.
Astronauts on Long Space Missions Will Need Earth-like Sleep Habits
There is nothing like a regular sleep schedule to keep you healthy, especially on a long voyage to Mars.
On June 3, 2010, a six-man team of international volunteers was sealed into a 550-cubic-meter spacecraft-like compartment at a Russian Academy of Sciences facility to simulate a 520-day round-trip mission to the Red Planet. During the project, sponsored in part by the European Space Agency, the 'crew' conducted experiments and scenarios to collect psychological and medical data on the effect of long-term deep-space flight.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Baylor College of Medicine analyzed the data in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They found that the crew became more sedentary as the months passed, and most of them also experienced a decrease in the quality of their sleep and alertness.
Co-lead author Mathias Basner says that demonstrates the need to ensure that Earth's natural circadian rhythm is artificially simulated in future spacecraft and planetary habitats, so crew members can maintain a normal and healthy sleep-wake cycle.
The findings are also applicable here on Earth, where many people in industrialized countries have sedentary lifestyles, as well as disrupted sleep patterns because of work and school schedules. Co-lead author David Dinges notes “the human body's need for sleep is as essential as our need for food and water.”
Preliminary Hearing Underway for US Theater Shooting Suspect
Prosecutors have started to make their case against the man charged with carrying out a deadly rampage at a U.S. movie theater in July.
The preliminary hearing in the case against 25-year-old James Holmes got underway Monday in Colorado.
Prosecutors have filed more than 160 counts against James Holmes for the shooting attack that killed 12 people and wounded 58 others. Before the hearing began, people began lining up outside the courthouse, including relatives of the victims.
The hearing is expected to last a week, with prosecutors publicly outlining their case against Holmes for the first time. A judge will then decide whether to proceed to trial.
Prosecutors have not yet determined if they will seek the death penalty.
Authorities say Holmes attacked the theater during a midnight screening of the Batman filmThe Dark Knight Rises, throwing tear gas canisters inside before opening fire on the audience.
Holmes was a Ph.D. student in neuroscience, but withdrew from his program a month before the shootings.
His lawyers have said he is mentally ill, and court records indicate they may call witnesses at the preliminary hearing to testify about his mental state.
PITT AND JOLIE TIE THE KNOT IN CARIBBEAN, NEWSPAPER SAYS
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After seven years as a couple, have Hollywood royalty Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie finally tied the knot?
The London Daily Telegraph is reporting that the pair secretly wedded on Christmas Day in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean.
The couple, who announced their engagement in April 2012, have reportedly been staying at the private Parrot Cay estate of American fashion designer Donna Karan, along with their six children, Brad's parents Jane and William Pitt, his brother Doug and sister Julie, the paper said.
Speculation about the couple's wedding plans has been rife ever since news of their engagement broke, with recent reports pointing to Greece as the likely location.
Jolie and Pitt first met on the set of the 2004 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Pitt was at the time still married to actress Jennifer Aniston, but they split in early 2005.
Sean Paul facing $US80 million lawsuit by ex-lover
It's been a bizarre start to 2013 for internationally revered Dancehall superstar, Sean Paul, who's facing a lawsuit from an ex-lover who has made a myriad of surprising claims.
Susanne Persson, who claims to be Sean Paul's ex-girlfriend, has sued theGot 2 Luv U singer for a whopping US80 million, insisting that the entertainer had her deported from Jamaica in June 2010 after bribing local law enforcement officials. Persson, a Swedish makeup artist and hairstylist, filed the lawsuit in New York's Manhattan Supreme Court, which includes a self-written book, Irie Jamboree that promises to expose"The Truth about Sean Paul's Cocaine Dealings, Lies, Murders and Erection Problems."
Irie Jamboree depicts a hand-drawn caricature of Persson and Sean Paul in his trademark mohawk. In the book, Persson claims Sean Paul's alleged cocaine issues severely affected their love life.
"Ever since [Paul] started using cocaine regularly, he has had severe erection problems. If it lasts one minute, it is a good day," an excerpt of the book reads.
Persson included her American Airlines itinerary, documenting her June 2010 flight from Kingston to her native Stockholm. A receipt she presented shows that Headline Entertainment, Sean Paul's promotion company, made the arrangements for said flight.