Venezuelans take in shifting news on Chavez health

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans began 2013 with a respite from shifting news about the health of President Hugo Chavez, who hasn't been seen in public since his fourth cancer-related surgery three weeks ago.The country was largely peaceful Tuesday after a New Year's Eve that saw a main government-organized celebration canceled due to Chavez's illness.Jorge Rodriguez, a Chavez ally and mayor...

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Venezuelan VP says he has visited Chavez twice

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice president says he has visited ailing President Hugo Chavez twice in Cuba and plans to return home to Caracas.Vice President Nicolas Maduro says he spoke with Chavez during their visits. Maduro says the president has "the same strength as always," despite a health situation that he described as complex three weeks after his cancer surgery.Maduro says he will...

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Venezuelans on edge amid shifting news on Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez alike nervously welcomed the new year Tuesday, left on edge by shifting signals from the government about the Venezuelan leader's condition three weeks after cancer surgery in Cuba.With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised interview in Cuba that he had...

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Employer wins relief from U.S. contraceptives mandate

(Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court has temporarily barred the U.S. government from requiring an Illinois company to obtain insurance coverage for contraceptives, as mandated under the 2010 healthcare overhaul, after the owners objected on religious grounds.More than 40 lawsuits are challenging a requirement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires most for-profit companies...

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FDA approves Salix's diarrhea drug for HIV/AIDS patients

(Reuters) - U.S. health regulators approved Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd's drug to treat diarrhea in HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral therapy, a combination of medicines used to treat HIV infection.Diarrhea is a common reason why HIV/AIDS patients discontinue or switch their antiretroviral therapies.The drug, called Fulyzaq, is intended to be used in HIV/AIDS patients whose diarrhea is not caused...

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Texas judge OKs ban on Planned Parenthood funding

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas can cut off funding to Planned Parenthood's family planning programs for poor women, a state judge ruled Monday, requiring thousands to find new state-approved doctors for their annual exams, cancer screenings and birth control.Judge Gary Harger said that Texas may exclude otherwise qualified doctors and clinics from receiving state funding if they advocate for abortion...

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Ivory Coast New Year's death toll rises to 64

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast's health minister says the death toll in the New Year's stampede has risen to 64.Health Minister Raymonde Goudou, speaking to the press, said three more people died in addition to the 61 who were killed from being trampled when thousands left a New Year's fireworks display. She said 26 people who had been missing after the chaos of the stampede were located...

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Mali's Ansar Dine: Islamists to resume hostilities

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — An Islamist group in northern Mali says it's suspending its pledge to halt hostilities less than a month after it agreed to do so.The group Ansar Dine said negotiations with the Malian government are ultimately aimed at a military intervention to oust the Islamists, and are not true peace talks. Still, the group said that it remains committed to a dialogue with the Malian government...

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Nigeria police: Hyundai paid $187K to free workers

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. paid about $187,000 to free four abducted South Korean workers and their local colleague, a lucrative ransom showing the continuing allure of kidnapping in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, police said Friday.South Korean officials declined to say whether they paid a ransom when announcing the hostages' release on Dec. 22, following the pattern of...

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BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — An Islamist group in northern Mali says it's suspending its pledge to halt hostilities less than a month after it agreed to do so. The group Ansar Dine said negotiations with the Malian government are ultimately aimed at a military intervention to oust the Islamists from the West African nation and are not true peace talks. Still, the group said it remains committed to a dialogue with the Malian government in Bamako even though it is keeping its military options open. The original offer had drawn skepticism from some observers, who noted the group's links to al-Qaida's North Africa branch. Ansar Dine, which says it seeks autonomy for northern Mali, has been behind public executions, amputations and whippings in the aDifferent challenges in Central African Rep., Mali rea that it seized last year.

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Two land-locked, desperately poor African countries are gripped by rebellions in the north that have left huge chunks of both nations outside of government control. Neighboring countries are rushing troops into Central African Republic only a few weeks after rebels started taking towns but Mali's government is still awaiting foreign military help nearly one...

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