Peruvian boy Isbac Pacunda, 3, has fetus of twin brother in stomach

Leonidas Pacunda carries his son Isbac on his shoulders at Las Mercedes hospital in Chiclayo, Peru, Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. Isbac, 3, was diagnosed with having tissues from the fetus of his twin brother in his abdomen, called "Fetus in fetu," and will be operated on Monday, according to doctors. Fetus in fetu occurs once in every 500,000 live births, according pediatric surgeon Carlos Astocondor, who will lead the surgery with 12 other physicians.

LIMA(Peru),Jan30.2012: Doctors in Peru have found a "parasitic twin" in the stomach of a 3-year-old boy, and plan to surgically remove the tissue Monday.Dr. Carlos Astocondor of the medical team at Las Mercedes Hospital in the northern port of Chiclayo says the condition occurs in about one of every 500,000 live births.He says the partially formed fetus weighs a pound and a half (700 grams) and is nine inches (25 centimeters) long.Astocondor says the brain, heart, lungs and intestines never developed after the fetus was absorbed by the other fetus inside the mother's womb. He says it has some hair on the cranium, eyes and some bones.

Taliban, US negotiators meet in Qatar: report

 WASHINGTON,Jan30,2012:  Taliban negotiators have begun meeting with US officials in Qatar, where they are discussing preliminary trust-building measures aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, The New York Times reported Sunday.Citing several former Taliban officials, the newspaper said these measures included a possible prisoner transfer. The Afghan government is expecting a delegation from the Qatar government to visit Kabul to explain its role in the talks, said High Peace Council secretary Aminundin Muzaffari. The former officials said that four to eight Taliban representatives had traveled to Qatar from Pakistan to set up a political office for the exiled Afghan insurgent group, the report said. The comments suggested that the Taliban, who have not publicly said they would engage in peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan, were gearing up for preliminary discussions, the paper said. US officials would not deny that meetings had taken place, and the discussions seemed to have at least the tacit approval of Pakistan, which has thwarted previous efforts by the Taliban to engage in talks, The Times noted.

Benin President Yayi new African Union Chairman

Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi

 ADDIS ABABA,Jan30,2012(AFP):  Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi was elected the African Union Chairman Sunday, taking over the one-year post from Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, officials said.“I want to congratulate the new chairman of the African Union... Boni Yayi,” said Obiang, the outgoing chairman, speaking after the official announcement at the AU summit meeting in the Ethiopian capital.

Libyan government to review its ambassadors

TRIPOLI,Jan30,2012(Reuters):  The Libyan government is reassessing its ambassadors worldwide and will dismiss those who had ties with ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, a foreign ministry official said.The move appears to be a bid by the National Transitional Council (NTC) to quell growing discontent from Libyans who fear that the corruption of Gaddafi’s rule did not die with him and that his cronies continue to hold positions of power. “There is a plan to reassess the embassies and there is a new list for the ambassadors and embassy staff,” the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. Libya is trying to rebuild and reconcile after 42 years of rule under Gaddafi, and a civil war last year that toppled and killed him. Many Libyan ambassadors defected from Gaddafi during the war and still hold their posts under the new leadership. “These are the people whose jobs will be reassessed,” the official said, adding that ambassadors is some countries have already resigned in anticipation of the move. A week ago, NTC vice-president Abdel Hafiz Ghoga resigned a few days after he was jostled by an angry crowd of students when he visited a university in Benghazi in eastern Libya. Many in Benghazi said Ghoga should be barred from working for the NTC as he was secretary of the solicitors’ syndicate under Gaddafi.

Umpire kills Bangladesh cricket fan with bat

 DHAKA,Jan30,2012(AFP):  A cricket umpire killed a teenage spectator in Bangladesh by hitting him on the head with a bat in a dispute over a contested decision, police said Sunday.Nazrul Islam, 15, ran onto the pitch during an amateur game in the remote northern district of Kishoreganj and started an argument with the umpire, who took one of the players’ bats and hit the teenager. Islam showed no serious injury from the blow during the game on Friday but suffered an internal haemorrhage overnight and died in hospital the following day, local police chief Mosharraf Hossain told AFP. “The two argued over a not-out decision by the umpire. He accused the umpire of bias. At one stage, the umpire became angry, took a bat and hit the young boy on the head,” Hossain said. The umpire was being sought for questioning but had gone into hiding, he added.
Cricket is hugely popular sport in Bangladesh, which last year co-hosted the World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.

Rough seas still delay work on grounded liner

 GIGLIO(Italy)Jan30 2012(AP):  Rough seas off the Tuscan coast have delayed for a second day the start of operations to remove half a million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia.Officials called off both the fuel removal and search operations Sunday after determining the ship had moved 4 centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours. University of Florence professor Riccardo Fanti said the movements could either be caused by the ship settling on its own weight, or slipping into the seabed. Recovery operations Saturday yielded a 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina. Fifteen crew and passengers remain missing. The Concordia, with 4,200 people aboard, ran aground on Jan. 13 after the captain deviated from his planned route and gashed the hull of the ship on a reef.

Cars circle central Moscow in anti-Putin protest

MOSCOW,Jan30 2012(AP): Thousands of cars flying white ribbons or white balloons circled central Moscow on Sunday in a show of protest against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.The cars — ranging from luxury sedans and sporty convertibles to old, exhaust-spewing Soviet models — jammed the inner lanes all along the 16-kilometer (nearly 10-mile) Garden Ring, which has as many as 16 lanes of traffic at its widest points. More protesters stood along the side of the road waving white ribbons and flags as the vehicles passed, their horns blaring. White ribbons became an opposition symbol during protests that broke out after a fraud-tainted Dec. 4 parliamentary election won by Putin’s party. Tens of thousands turned out for two mass protests last month to demand free and fair elections, and protest organizers are now preparing for a third big demonstration on Saturday. Putin is running in a March 4 presidential election to reclaim the post he held from 2000 to 2008. He is expected to win, but is under pressure to show he can win fairly. Sunday’s action was aimed at helping to build momentum for the protest movement and it provided another outlet for the creativity that has been a defining feature of the demonstrations. While most drivers were content to tie white ribbons and balloons to their cars’ antennas, sideview mirrors and door handles, some decorated their vehicles with original signs and banners. Opposition activist Alexei Navalny said the traveling protest action was a “wonderful advertisement” for Saturday’s rally.

AP plans Rs1,500 tablet to promote e-learning

 HYDERABAD, Jan30, 2012:The Andhra Pradesh government, as part of its initiatives to promote e-learning, is planning to provide “Aakash” Tablets to students at a subsidised price of Rs1,500.
The state government has sent a proposal to the Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry in this regard. “Once we get the approval, we will implement the scheme. We are planning to procure 10,000 tablets. Initially, they will be made available to the students in the state universities, engineering and polytechnic colleges,” State Commissioner of Technical Education S Balasubramanyam said. In the next phase, the scheme would be extended to the students of all private colleges in the state, the official said. The Union HRD Ministry is monitoring the implementation of Aakash project. Billed as the world’s cheapest tablet, “Aakash” was launched by the HRD Minister Kapil Sibal in October last year. The tablet has been designed, especially for students with an aim to bridge the “digital divide” between the rich and the poor. Over the next five years, the Centre plans to provide the tablets to 200 million students. “The HRD Ministry had asked the state to submit details about the number of Aakash tablets initially required. We plan to procure 10,000 tablets in the beginning,” Balasubramanyam said. The state government is waiting for the next generation of “Aakash”, which is expected to be released in April. The government also has plans of providing Aakash tablets on rent in college and university libraries for students who cannot afford to buy these tablets. Aakash tablet, with a 7-inch touch screen and a weight of 350 grams, runs on Android operating system. There are reports that the existing Android 2.2 version operating system has a series of faults. There are also complaints regarding its poor battery back-up. Keeping this in view, the manufacturers of the tablet — DataWind — has decided to launch an improved version of Aakash with a 766 MHz processor and a longer battery life. As on January 25 this year, over 2 millions online orders have been placed for the purchase of the world’s cheapest tablet.

Cuba’s Communists map out party future

 HAVANA, Jan29,2012(AP): Cuba’s Communist leaders vowed not to cede any ground to “the enemy,” even as they pledged to fight corruption and continue overhauling the island’s listing Marxist economy with an injection of free market reform.No word of long-awaited political changes — including an April pledge by President Raul Castro to implement term limits — seeped out of the first day of the closed-door party conference. Nor was there any hint of changes to the aged upper ranks of the party hierarchy. President Raul Castro is 80, and his two top deputies are 81 and 79, respectively. Castro has spoken of the need to revitalize the island’s leadership, but has complained there are few young leaders ready to step up. He, or his now-retired brother Fidel, have ruled the country since their 1959 revolution.
“Making the necessary changes, but without the smallest concession to the enemy,” read the headline in Sunday’s official Juventud Rebelde newspaper, an apparent reference to the United States and other government opponents. The theme was echoed by delegates at the conference in snippets of the session shown on state television “The enemy is waiting to create internal problems for us,” Angel Bueno warned fellow attendees. Delegates were wrapping up the two-day event on Sunday. Attendees did pledge to boost the ranks of women, Afro-Cubans and young people in the party and government, and noted that women currently make up 37 percent of the government, and 41 percent of delegates to the island’s National Assembly. But there were no concrete resolutions, and Castro’s recent comments not to expect fireworks out of the internal meetings dampened expectations any major announcements were coming. The meetings are a follow-up to last April’s historic party summit, which opened up long-shut doors of economic opportunity by green-lighting the legalization of home and car sales, expansion of private-sector activity and extension of loans to support farmers, entrepreneurs and homeowners. Foreign journalists were not allowed access to the weekend event. State-run website Cubadebate showed photos of Castro presiding over the conference wearing a gray blazer and a dark, open-collar shirt, with what appeared to be a small bandage on the tip of his nose. There was no word of any appearance by Fidel Castro, who was greeted with a standing ovation and some tears at the April congress. In a brief snippet of video posted on Cubadebate, Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura said in a keynote speech that the conference would focus on “the everyday work of the organization.”

Obama pokes fun during dinner for capital elites

 WASHINGTON,Jan29, 2012(AP):  President Barack Obama told some jokes and poked a little fun at himself as he addressed the Alfalfa Club dinner, an exclusive annual black-tie get-together of some of the capital’s movers and shakers.The club’s sole mission is to put on a steak-and-lobster feast while giving high-powered politicians and business leaders another opportunity to rub elbows and share some laughs. Saturday night’s dinner was, as in years past, off limits to reporters. “It is great to be here tonight, because I have about 45 more minutes on the State of the Union that I’d like to deliver tonight,” the president told the gathering, according to excerpts released by the White House. Among those attending were current and former senators, including John Kerry of Massachusetts and Pat Leahy of Vermont. Former President George H.W. Bush and his son Jeb, a former governor of Florida, were also on the guest list. “You’ve heard it from the pundits: ‘Obama is cloistered in the White House.’ ‘He’s aloof.’ ‘He’s in the bubble.’ ‘He’s not connecting,’” the president said. “And that’s why one of my big goals this year was to get out and be among everyday, ordinary Americans — like the men and women of the Alfalfa Club.” His appearance at the dinner came at the end of a high profile week for the president, beginning with his State of the Union policy address to a joint session of Congress and ending with a three-day tour of five states that included an exchange of words with Arizona’s Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. According to club history, the club is named after the alfalfa because the plant extends its roots far for a drink. Obama was joined at the dinner, at a hotel near the White House, by his wife, Michelle. It was the second club dinner the president addressed in four years. He last spoke at the dinner in 2009 but skipped the soiree last year and in 2010.