World News

(JamaicaObserver): After some 18 months of weighing the pros and cons of legalising abortion, members of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament are split over what recommendations they would be making to the legislature. The committee has been receiving submissions since July 2008 on the report of the Abortion Policy Review Advisory Group (APRAG) set up in 2005 by former minister of health, John Junor, amidst concerns that abortion was the third leading cause of death in adolescents and that unsafe abortions constituted the eighth leading cause of maternal deaths in Jamaica. APRAG, was asked to advise on the development of a comprehensive national policy on abortion, with special emphasis on safe abortions.

(BBC): A nationwide referendum is taking place in Switzerland on a proposal to give animals the constitutional right to be represented in court. Animal rights groups say appointing state-funded animal lawyers would ensure animal welfare laws are upheld, and help prevent cases of cruelty. Opponents say Switzerland does not need more legislation regarding animal protection. The Swiss government has recommended that voters reject the idea. There is already one animal lawyer in Switzerland. Zurich has made legal representation for animals in cruelty cases compulsory since 1992.

(The Daily Mail): A homeowner who killed an armed intruder and seriously injured another man after they broke into his flat has been cleared of murder today. Samuel Quamina, 49, was confronted by three men brandishing a pistol and a metal steering lock as he read the Bible in his home. He armed himself with two kitchen knives and slashed at the burglars as they attempted to grab his gold necklace and rings. Perry Nelson Jr, 24, (left) suffered a fatal stab wound and died at King's College Hospital after running from the bungled raid.

(CNN): A massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake rocked Chile early Saturday, killing at least 82 people and triggering tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific basin. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said she expected the death toll to rise. "We are taking all the necessary measures at this time," she told reporters. Officials did not give any information on the number of those injured. The full extent of the damage was not yet known, although there were reports of collapsed buildings and hundreds of people in the streets. The capital of Santiago lost electricity and basic services including water and telephones. Bachelet said regional hospitals had suffered damage; some were evacuated.

(BBC): Men seen as likely to be violent towards their wives could be forced to wear an electronic tag under a law being debated by the French parliament. The tag would have to be worn by men who have received a court order to stay away from their partner. The proposal is part of a draft law on conjugal violence. It has cross-party support and is expected to pass easily. According to the government, around 160 women in France are murdered by their husbands or partners every year. Parliament is also considering outlawing psychological violence in the home, because it is seen by many as a precursor to physical violence.

(Economist):  Kenya remains east Africa’s commercial hub, yet the bickering and dithering of its dodgy and unwieldy government could ruin what is left of its reputation. "We are sharpening our pangas [machetes],” says a man in a jam-packed matatu, the ubiquitous minibus taxi that is Kenya’s main means of public transport. “It is not if but when” is the commonest answer to the question, “Will political violence resume?” Barely two years after a grubby election that left 1,500 Kenyans dead and several hundred thousand homeless, the country is still dangerously adrift. This week the government was embroiled in yet another quarrel after the prime minister, Raila Odinga, sacked a close-rival-turned-enemy, William Ruto, in a move that the president, Mwai Kibaki, deemed unconstitutional.

(The Sun): A power-packed Navy warship has sailed to the South Atlantic in a re-run of the 1982 Falklands conflict. Type 42 destroyer HMS York was last night in waters off the islands' capital Port Stanley - spearheading a new British task force in the escalating oilfield drilling row with Argentina. The survey vessel HMS Scott has also headed to the windswept isles and is alongside the warship. The giant oil supply tanker RFA Wave Ruler will be there soon. And the three new arrivals, previously sailing elsewhere in the vast Atlantic, will make up a four-strong seaborne force with the Falklands' permanent patrol vessel HMS Clyde.

(BBC): An advertising campaign is being launched (in the UK) to raise awareness of domestic violence in teenage relationships. The adverts will target boys and girls aged 13 to 18, urging them not to use violence against their girlfriends. The £2m TV, radio, internet and poster campaign is part of a government strategy announced last year to reduce violence against women and girls. Home Secretary Alan Johnson said it was essential to change attitudes in order to stop abuse against females. He said: "We want to see young people in safe and happy relationships and this means tackling attitudes towards abuse at an early age, before patterns of violence can occur.

(BBC): Writer Dick Francis, famous for his horse racing-based crime novels, has died aged 89, his family has said. Francis, who wrote some 40 best-selling novels during his career, was also a champion jockey in the 1940s and 50s and the Queen Mother's jockey. He first published his autobiography in 1957, and his first thriller, Dead Cert, followed five years later. Francis's most recent works, Dead Heat and Silks, were co-authored by his son Felix. He spent his final years in retirement in the Cayman Islands and his family said he "died of old age". A private funeral is due to be held in the Caribbean with a memorial service in London at a later stage, a spokesman added.

(The Guardian): Iceland is aiming to become a global haven for investigative journalism, with the country's parliament expected to vote through legislation protecting sources, guaranteeing freedom of speech and ending libel tourism. Supporters liken the initiative to the offshore financial havens that corporations use to avoid government tax regimes – only for free speech. The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative is due to go before the country's parliament on Tuesday, according to Jonathan Stray – a blogger for Harvard University's Nieman Journalism Lab. And the people behind Wikileaks have been involved in drafting the law.

(BBC): An Arab country's ambassador to Dubai has had his marriage contract annulled after discovering the bride was cross-eyed and had facial hair. The woman had worn an Islamic veil, known as the niqab, on the few occasions the couple had met. The envoy, who has not been identified, told a Sharia court her mother had tricked him by showing him pictures of the bride's sister, Gulf News reported. He only discovered the deception when he lifted the woman's veil to kiss her. The court had annulled the marriage contract but rejected a $130,000 (£83,000) compensation claim for gifts he had bought his intended, the report said.

(The Guardian): Metropolitan police assistant commissioner John Yates has been reprimanded by the culture select committee for what it claims was a failure to give more detailed evidence to MPs over the scale of hacking into private phone messages by former News International employees. The chairman of the culture committee, John Whittingdale, has written to Yates to deliver the reprimand. Yates has angrily replied it had never been his intention to mislead the committee and he is most concerned that the committee believed that to be the case. At the time of giving oral evidence to the committee in September, Yates gave no indication he knew of the scale of the hacking.

(CNS): Professor Rex Nettleford, a Rhodes Scholar, writer and dancer, co-founder and leader for 50 years of Jamaica’s National Dance Theatre Company, died 2 February 2010. The Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) has organised a programme scheduled for Thursday, 6:30pm, at the Harquail theatre, to celebrate the life of this “great Jamaican and cultural icon.” Professor Nettleford had been scheduled as the keynote speaker at the University College of the Cayman Islands’ 11-12 March Caribbean Conference on Literature, Identity and Culture.