Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday named the Kremlin official credited with designing Russia's tightly-controlled political system as deputy prime minister in charge of a modernization drive.
The appointment of Vladislav Surkov, until now Kremlin first deputy chief of staff, comes as Russia's rulers scramble to reassert their authority amid a wave of protests against the conduct of parliamentary elections.
Full StoryQueen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip left hospital Tuesday, four days after being rushed in for emergency heart surgery and missing the royal family's Christmas celebrations.
The outspoken 90-year-old prince smiled and waved as he was driven away in a dark Range Rover vehicle from Papworth hospital near Cambridge, eastern England, an Agence France Presse photographer witnessed.
Full StoryPrime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday belittled Russia's protest movement as lacking any clear aims and rejected their demands for a review of the results of disputed parliamentary polls.
"They have no united program, clear ways of reaching their aims -- which are themselves not clear -- or people who could achieve something concrete," Putin said in comments broadcast by state television.
Full StoryPakistan's embattled president on Tuesday used the fourth anniversary of his wife Benazir Bhutto's assassination to urge the country to foil "conspiracies against democracy."
Asif Ali Zardari, who has spent December fending off rampant speculation that he may be forced out of office, was expected to address tens of thousands of followers at the Bhutto mausoleum later Tuesday in a rare public speech.
Full StoryNorth Korea was Tuesday preparing a massive ceremonial farewell to late leader Kim Jong-Il as it strove to strengthen a new personality cult around his youthful son and successor Jong-Un.
The secretive state has so far given no details of Wednesday's funeral for its "Dear Leader" of the past 17 years and has not invited foreign delegations to the ceremony.
Full StoryAn Ethiopian court on Tuesday sentenced two Swedish journalists to 11 years in jail for supporting terrorism and entering the country illegally, after a trial criticized by rights groups.
"The sentence should be punishment of 11 years imprisonment," Judge Shemsu Sirgaga told the court in the Amharic language through a translator.
Full StoryTokyo on Tuesday eased a decades-old self-imposed ban on arms exports, paving the way for Japanese firms to participate in multinational weapons projects.
In a move intended to bolster the domestic arms industry and reduce national defense spending, officially pacifist Japan will for the first time in decades routinely allow its companies to partner with foreign firms to develop weapons.
Full StoryA military coup led by renegade troops was foiled Monday in Guinea-Bissau, the head of the army of the impoverished coup-prone west African state said.
"A small group of soldiers" tried to "topple the top brass of the army and the government," but failed, General Antonio Indjai said, adding: "The situation is under the control of the army and the government."
Full StoryChristian shops were burnt and hundreds of residents sought to flee one violence-torn city in Nigeria's northeast, residents said Monday, after deadly Christmas attacks shook the country.
In the northeastern city of Potiskum, residents and a police source said about 30 Christian shops burned on Sunday night, while a supermarket and the home of a local Christian leader were also set ablaze.
Full StorySecurity staff at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport voted to continue a strike on Monday, four days after officials sent in police to ensure their action did not hit holiday travel.
Around 200 striking workers voted in favor of continuing the pay dispute in a show of hands at a meeting at the airport.
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