Philippines holds five for Japanese husband murder

MANILA, Jan 5: A Philippine woman and her son have been arrested along with three other local suspects for the gun-for-hire murder of her Japanese husband, police said Saturday. Hideo Niikura was shot dead by a motorcycle-riding gunman in Dasmarinas, a town about 35 kilometres (22 miles) south of Manila on December 29, a police statement said. His wife Merlinda Soria, 46, confessed she and an adult son by another man had plotted the killing, the statement said. — AFP

Sudan , South Sudan meet to push security, oil deals

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 05: The rival presidents of Sudan and South Sudan met for face-to-face talks Saturday to push forward stalled security, oil and border deals, and discuss the fate of the contested Abyei region. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and his Southern counterpart Salva Kiir met alongside African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki while tensions remain high after the latest in a string of accusations that Khartoum had bombed South Sudan. — AFP

Water cannon used in protests in Belfast

BELFAST Jan 05: Northern Ireland police used water cannon against a crowd of up to 300 people Friday in fresh violence on the streets of Belfast, in which several officers were hurt, a spokesman said. It was the second consecutive night of violence by pro-British protesters, and followed several weeks of unrest sparked by the December 3 decision by Belfast City Council to limit the number of days it flies the British flag. — AFP

Snowmobile accident kills six in Italian Alps
MILAN, Jan 5: A snowmobile accident in the Italian Alps left six tourists dead and two others seriously injured Friday, the ANSA news agency reported. The eight-all from eastern Europe, or Russia-were riding on the vehicle across an unlit slope on Mount Cermis in the Trento region, rescuers said. The snowmobile veered off the piste at an altitude of about 2,000 metres (6,550 feet) and overturned, ejecting its passengers, with some of them hitting rocks. The cause of the accident was not immediately known. — AFP
UN Council demands Central
African rebels halt advance
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 5: The UN Security Council on Friday renewed its demand that rebels in the Central African Republic halt their advance on the capital and take part in peace talks in "good faith." A regional group of states says it has organized talks between the country's government and the Seleka rebel coalition in Libreville starting Tuesday. A rebel spokesman told AFP however that he knew nothing of the planned gathering and repeated demands that President Francois Bozize stand down. — AFP
US top court to hear Native American adoption case
WASHINGTON, Jan 5: The US Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up an appeal by a couple ordered to turn over the two-year-old girl they had raised since birth to her biological father because he is a Native American. The girl's biological father Dusten Brown said the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, a law intended to prevent Native American children from being separated from their families, meant he was entitled to custody — AFP
Two youths die in attack on refugee
camp for Somalis in Kenya
KENYA, Jan 5: Two youths died and several people were wounded during a grenade attack at a refugee camp in eastern Kenya near Somalia on Friday, an AFP journalist and police said. The AFP journalist viewed two bodies, while the Red Cross said on its Twitter account that seven people had also been wounded in an attack on a restaurant in the Dadaab refugee camp complex, the world's biggest, which lies about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the border with Somalia. — AFP