Venezuela's government has halted lines of communication established by a top U.S. diplomat to protest what it says has been U.S. interference in the country's internal affairs ahead of an election set next month to replace the late President Hugo Chavez. Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said in a news conference Wednesday that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson had violated Venezuela's sovereignty despite reaching out to the South American country's gov

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― India’s lower house on Tuesday passed a bill toughening punishment for sex offenders, including the death penalty if a victim dies, after the fatal gang-rape of a student that sparked national outrage.Members of the decision-making lower house of parliament approved the legislation, which also contains new penalties for stalking, groping, voyeurism and acid attacks.The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, which must now be approved by the upper house, provides for a minimum 20-year

VATICAN CITY (AP) ― After a week marked by acts of simplicity and openness, Pope Francis finally let his words do the talking as he officially began his stewardship of the Catholic Church on Tuesday.“Please,” he implored the tens of thousands, both poor and powerful, gathered outside St. Peter’s Basilica. “Let us be protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.” It was a message Pope Francis has hinted at, but now he made

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Jim Barrett, the American vintner whose chardonnay famously defeated the might of France in 1976 and helped put California’s Napa Valley on the map, has died at the age of 86.Barrett’s 1973 Chateau Montelana Chardonnay won the prestigious “Judgment of Paris,” a one-time blind tasting by nine French experts organized by British wine merchant Steven Spurrier, sending shockwaves through the wine industry.The wine defeated several famed French white Burgundies, which had been t

LONDON (AP) ― A collection of some of Princess Diana’s most memorable evening gowns, including one she wore to a White House dinner where she danced with John Travolta, fetched over 800,000 pounds ($1.2 million) at a London auction Tuesday.Diana famously wore the deep navy, figure-hugging velvet gown to a gala dinner hosted by President Ronald Reagan, during her and Prince Charles’ first joint state visit to the U.S. in 1985. Photographs of her taking to the White House dance floor with Travolta

The U.S. man charged with killing a woman and raping her 10-year-old daughter after a carjacking was able to remove and reassemble his court-ordered electronic monitoring bracelet to go undetected for hours while carrying out the attacks, authorities said.David Renz, 29, put the ankle bracelet back together so quickly that it may have prompted what appeared to be a false alarm Thursday night. Officials had told the company not to notify them of the briefest interruptions of monitor signals becau

Syria's government and rebels traded accusations Tuesday of a chemical attack on a northern village for the first time in the civil war, although the U.S. said there was no evidence it had happened.The use of such weapons would be a nightmare scenario in the 2-year-old conflict that has killed an estimated 70,000 people, and the competing claims showed awillingness by both sides to go to new levels to seek support from world powers.One of the international community's biggest concerns is that Sy

A French hostage has been executed in Mali, a man claiming to be a spokesman for al-qaida in North Africa told Mauritania's ANI news agency late Tuesday.A French foreign office spokesman said they were trying to verify the report of the killing of Philippe Verdon, who was kidnapped in November 2011, adding that "we don't know at the moment" whether it is reliable. (AFP)

TOKYO (AFP) ― Engineers at Fukushima were scrambling Tuesday to restore power to cooling systems after an outage, in the latest incident to underline the precarious fix at the tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.Equipment on pools used to keep used fuel cool ― necessary to prevent any spontaneous nuclear reactions ― have not had any electricity since it was cut at 7 p.m. on Monday, operator TEPCO said.The company, which has regularly been criticized in the past for not telling the public or press exa

JERUSALEM (AFP) ― A new Israeli governing coalition with a strong showing of pro-settlement hardliners formally took office late on Monday after confirmation by parliament days before a landmark U.S. presidential visit.“During all three periods in which I had the privilege to govern the state of Israel, I don’t remember a more challenging period,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the first meeting of his new cabinet as he began his third term of office.He spoke of “dangers on one side, opp

BEIJING (AP) ― China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, told the U.S. Treasury secretary on Tuesday he wants strong ties with Washington as the two sides resumed high-level interaction following a months-long hiatus during the Chinese leadership transition. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew planned to raise issues including North Korea’s nuclear program, China’s exchange rate controls and cyberspying during his two day visit. “I attach great importance to China’s relationship with the United States,” Xi told