World

ISLAMABAD,  (Reuters) – Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minister in connection with a corruption case linked to power projects, television channels reported today, plunging the country into fresh political turmoil.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Music and DVD retailer HMV said it was calling in the administrators after a last-ditch attempt to secure funding failed, bringing the curtain down on one of Britain’s best-known high street retail stores.

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) – Iran hostage drama Argo scored a sweet double victory at the Golden Globe awards yesterday, winning best movie drama – the night’s top prize – and best director for Ben Affleck on a night that left front-runner Lincoln with just one trophy.

GENEVA,  (Reuters) – UN human rights chief Navi Pillay called today for an international investigation into what she said were decades of serious violations in North Korea.

BAMAKO/PARIS,  (Reuters) – French fighter jets pounded Islamist rebel strongholds deep in northern Mali yesterday as Paris poured more troops into the capital Bamako, awaiting a West African force to dislodge al Qaeda-linked insurgents from the country’s north.

COLOMBO,  (Reuters) – President Mahinda Rajapaksa removed Sri Lanka’s chief justice from office with immediate effect yesterday, defying a Supreme Court ruling that the impeachment process was illegal and setting the stage for a possible constitutional crisis.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Cancer-stricken Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s lung infection has been controlled and his medical condition is developing positively, more than a month after his latest surgery in Cuba, the government said yesterday.

TORONTO,  (Reuters) – Canada will spend C$330.8 million over the next two years to improve water systems on aboriginal lands, as the Conservative government tries to deal with growing unrest on native reservations.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s three most powerful government figures after President Hugo Chavez gathered in Havana today to check on their ailing leader’s condition and meet with Cuban allies.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is forging ahead on a wide-ranging plan to overhaul the U.S.

(Reuters) – Roughly 18,000 defrauded investors in Allen Stanford’s US$7 billion Ponzi scheme would receive an initial payment of US$55 million for their claims, according to a plan submitted by a court appointed receiver on Friday.

CAIRO,  (Reuters) – An Egyptian court accepted an appeal by ousted former president Hosni Mubarak and his former interior minister today, allowing him to be retried over the killings of protesters in the 2011 uprising.

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan,  (Reuters) – A roadside bomb killed as many as 14 Pakistani soldiers in the northern border region of North Waziristan today, military officials said, a day after the Pakistani Taliban leader called for attacks on the military in the area to stop.

BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) – French aircraft pounded Islamist rebels in Mali for a second day yesterday and neighbouring West African states speeded up their plans to deploy troops in an international campaign to prevent groups linked to al Qaeda expanding their power base.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Americans are beginning to feel the pinch from Washington’s decision to embrace austerity measures aimed at bringing down the nation’s budget deficit.

(Reuters) – Internet activist and computer prodigy Aaron Swartz, who helped create an early version of the Web feed system RSS and later played a key role in stopping an online piracy bill in Congress, has committed suicide at age 26, authorities said yesterday.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez is recovering in Cuba and is not in a coma as some have rumored a month after surgery, his brother, Adan Chavez, said after a visit to Havana.

PARIS, (Reuters) – France will pursue operations in Mali to prepare a subsequent African-led intervention to oust Islamist rebels and will step up anti-terrorist security measures on its own territory, President Francois Hollande said on Saturday.

OTTAWA,  (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed in a meeting with native leaders on Friday to pay more attention to their demands, trying to mollify an aboriginal protest movement that has threatened to blockade roads and railways across the country.

COLOMBO,  (Reuters) – Sri Lanka faced a possible constitutional crisis yesterday  after its parliament voted to impeach the chief justice, disregarding rulings from the Supreme Court that the process was illegal and threatened judicial independence.