CA-NEWS Summary

Tight win for Chavez's heir spells uncertainty for Venezuela

CARACAS (Reuters) - Late socialist leader Hugo Chavez's chosen successor Nicolas Maduro won Venezuela's presidential election by a whisker but now faces opposition protests plus a host of economic and political challenges in the OPEC nation. The 50-year-old former bus driver, whom Chavez named as his preferred heir before dying from cancer, edged out opposition challenger Henrique Capriles with 50.7 percent of the votes in Sunday's election, according to election board returns.

North Korea looks inward for founder's birthday, tensions ease

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea celebrated the anniversary of its founder's birth on Monday and abandoned its shrill threats of war against the United States and the South, easing tensions in a region that had seemed on the verge of conflict. The North has threatened nuclear attacks on the United States, South Korea and Japan after new U.N. sanctions were imposed in response to its latest nuclear arms test in February.

Assad's forces break rebel blockade in north Syria

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government troops have broken through a six-month rebel blockade in northern Syria and are now fighting to recapture a vital highway, opposition and state media said on Monday. Rebels had kept the army bottled up in the Wadi al-Deif and Hamidiya military bases in Idlib province. But on Sunday, President Bashar al-Assad's forces outflanked the rebels and broke through, the pro-government al-Baath newspaper said.

Egypt's Mubarak stays in detention despite release order

CAIRO (Reuters) - Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak will stay in detention despite a judge ordering his release on bail pending a retrial over charges in complicity in the murder of protesters because he still faces other charges, court officials said on Monday. Mubarak, 84, has spent the maximum legal time of two years in detention since being charged with former interior minister Habib al-Adli for their involvement in the killing of protesters in the 2011 uprising that unseated him.

Tensions rise over Afghan, Pakistan border dispute

KABUL (Reuters) - Hundreds of Afghan university students in the eastern city of Jalalabad took to the streets on Monday to protest the building of a Pakistani military gate in what the Afghan defense ministry says is inside Afghanistan. The incident is the latest in rising tensions between the two sides, whose attempts to lure the Taliban to the peace table have stalled amid their feuding.

Somali militants threaten more attacks after killing 30

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali militants linked to al Qaeda warned on Monday of further attacks in the capital, a day after killing at least 30 people in a wave of coordinated bombings and shootings that exposed the fragility of security gains in Mogadishu. African peacekeeping troops blocked off streets and searched houses across the city at dawn on Monday to flush out suspected members of the Islamist militant group al Shabaab which claimed responsibility for the strikes.

Bombs kill more than 30 across Iraq before local poll

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs and blasts in cities across Iraq, including two explosions at a checkpoint outside Baghdad's international airport, killed at least 33 people on Monday days before provincial elections. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmato and other towns to the north to south, but al Qaeda's local wing is waging a campaign against Shi'ites and the government to stoke sectarian confrontation.

Kuwaiti politician jailed for insulting emir: lawyer

KUWAIT (Reuters) - A prominent Kuwaiti opposition politician was sentenced to five years in jail on Monday for insulting the ruling emir, his lawyer said, in a ruling expected to stoke political tension in the Gulf Arab state. Kuwait, an OPEC member and U.S. ally across the Gulf from Washington's main regional adversary Iran, has avoided the sort of mass pro-democracy unrest seen in other Arab states. But tensions have risen between former members of parliament and the government, long dominated by the Al-Sabah family.

Italian prosecutors pursue trial for Costa Concordia officers

GROSSETO, Italy (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors on Monday launched a case to put officers of the Costa Concordia on trial for the accident in which the giant cruise ship ran aground and capsized off the coast of Tuscany last year, killing 32 people. Prosecutors argued at a preliminary hearing that ex-captain Francesco Schettino should be tried on charges including manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship in the accident. If convicted, Schettino could face 20 years in jail.

Exclusive: Lion Air crash pilot felt jet "dragged" from sky

PARIS/DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - The pilot whose Indonesian jet slumped into the sea while trying to land in Bali has described how he felt it "dragged" down by wind while he struggled to regain control, a person familiar with the matter said. All 108 passengers and crew miraculously survived when the Boeing 737 passenger jet, operated by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air, undershot the tourist island's main airport runway and belly-flopped in water on Saturday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-135833356.html

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