[World] Defence seizes on police inconsistencies in Pistorius case

Defence seizes on police inconsistencies in Pistorius case
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/a-bad-day-for-the-prosecution-at-pistorius-hearing/article8907314/
Lawyers representing Oscar Pistorius have challenged police testimony accusing the South African sprinter of the premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

After Bulgarian Protests, Prime Minister Resigns
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/20/bulgarias_prime_minister_resigns_after_violent_protests_over_energy_costs_corruption.html
Prime Minister Boiko Borisov of Bulgaria submitted his government's resignation on Wednesday after a tumultuous week of public anger over rising electricity prices, corruption and worsening living standards that ignited mass protests nationwide and led to ...

Sri Lanka: Photos renew accusations that 12-year-old was executed
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/photos-of-ltte-chief-velupillai-prabhakaran-s-son-morphed-sri-lanka-333301
Facing continued pressure over alleged wartime abuses, Sri Lankan officials rejected renewed accusations that a 12-year-old boy was executed in the final throes of its bloody civil war.

Italian Election Can't Produce Both Stability and Reform
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21522073
Next week's parliamentary election in Italy is a make-or-break vote for the country, which for several years has been teetering on the brink of a fiscal crisis.

Syrian soccer player killed as mortars hit stadium
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Syria-footballer-killed-as-mortars-hit-stadium/articleshow/18593626.cms
A Syrian soccer player was killed and four others wounded when two mortars smashed into a stadium in central Damascus. An official named the dead footballer as 23-year-old Yussef Sleiman, and said he played for the Homs-based Al-Wathba team.

Venezuela channel: excluded from digital TV system
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/evo-moralies-denied-visit-with-ailing-chavez/article8906984/?cmpid=rss1
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - A Venezuelan television channel that takes a critical stance toward President Hugo Chavez is accusing the government of excluding it from a new digital television system, and it warns that action could force it off the open ...

Spain avoids shipwreck, but no prospect of a soft berth
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/economics/article3694392.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2013_02_21
The Spanish Prime Minister declared yesterday that his austerity policies had averted an economic “shipwreck” but said tough times still lay ahead.

Gruesome discovery in hotel water tank
http://www.smh.com.au/world/gruesome-discovery-in-hotel-water-tank-20130221-2et1x.html
British tourist Michael Baugh and his wife say water had only dribbled out of the taps at the downtown Los Angeles hotel for days.

Report rebukes Mexico over cases of the missing
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-mexico-disappearances-constitute-crisis-18549794
MEXICO CITY - Security forces have taken part in many kidnappings and disappearances in Mexico, and the government's failure to investigate most cases only compounds the anguish of their families, according to a scathing new human rights report.

Russia Lawmaker Exits Amid Condo Storm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864304578316112633221502.html
MOSCOWâ€"A founding member of Russia's ruling party resigned from Parliament on Wednesday, after opposition bloggers unearthed documents they said showed he owns waterfront properties in Florida that he didn't mention in his parliamentary asset ...

We will always have diamond heists
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/5-minutes-8-robbers-a-50-million-haul-in-diamonds/article8798405/
Editor's note: Scott Andrew Selby is the co-author of "Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History." (CNN) -- Over Valentine's Day weekend in 2003, a group of Italian thieves broke into a massive vault in the heart of Antwerp, Belgium's, diamond ...

French general urges EU to equip "impoverished" Mali army
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/more-than-20-islamists-killed-in-mali/story-e6frfkui-1226581565817
By Pascal Fletcher. BAMAKO, Mali | Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:58pm EST. BAMAKO, Mali (Reuters) - The European Union should complement a mission to train Mali's army, routed by rebels last year, by providing equipment from uniforms to vehicles and ...