China says it will end prison labor camps. Will there be real reform?

China appears poised to end an inglorious history of labor camps, and the practice of “re-education through labor.”
This week, Beijing announced it would end the decades-old system, which gives police and other officials power to detain people up to four years without charge or having to go through the legal system.
It appears that the mounting dissatisfaction among citizens and lawyers has brought about a potential moment in the Middle Kingdom, and new leaders in Beijing are giving it some attention. Yet whether China will seize this moment and conduct real reform, close the camps, and stop incarcerating people without trial is unclear.
One concern, say longtime China justice watchers, is that Beijing may merely retool the policy on labor camps. That is, officials will create new legal measures that appear improved, but that change little – except to make it more difficult for monitors to claim or prove human rights violations.
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China admits to a network of some 310 labor camps with 190,000 inmates who are forced to work, often in grueling conditions – sent there without due process or a judge.
Re-education through labor has been used to control dissent and political prisoners. When the camps were started in the 1950s, they held “counter-revolutionaries” on ideological charges. But Beijing stopped that in the late ‘90s.
Today, the types of people who may end up in a camp for years are democracy organizers, upstart bloggers, underground church ministers, unhappy lawyers, members of the Falun Gong sect, Tibetan monks or ethnic Uighers with the temerity to protest, or those deemed too outspoken and thus threats to the “harmony” of China’s society.
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Labor camps may have been necessary in the past, said Chinese Ministry of Justice Chief Meng Jianzhu Monday, but in today’s China, “conditions have changed.”
So this week when Beijing started talking about ending “forced labor” – those words echoed loudly in China watch circles.
“This is a big measure if it really happens,” notes Nicolas Bequelin, a justice expert with Human Rights Watch based in Hong Kong, and author of many reports on conditions in China. “It is driven by the top and resisted by police and public security bureaus.”
What concerns Mr. Bequelin: “We may end up seeing a less overtly abusive system, one that has a different name and some small changes, but one that in the end makes the uprooting of abuse more difficult.”
To be sure, compared with the old Soviet Siberian wasteland labor camps chronicled by Alexander Solzhenitzyn, where inmates died in the snows by the thousands, Chinese camps are a kind of “Gulag-lite.” But they are also plenty grim. Torture is sanctioned, medical treatment withheld, and grueling work enforced. Beatings and other inhumane conditions are overseen by often-corrupt police officials.
“Chinese authorities will need to replace “re-education by labor” with something,” says Joshua Rosenzweig, a Hong Kong-based expert formerly with the Dui Hua group. “But what will it be? That is the question.”
The cornerstone of any justice system is that those accused by police must go to court where evidence is produced. In the case of the forced labor camps in China, police arrest and act as judge and jury without a trial. Currently, the camps are inspected by the Ministry of Justice, which happens to be the same ministry that operates them.
Will Chinese police give up some of their current power?
Can Chinese authorities start moving away from a long-held obsession with “stability” – and begin to acknowledge individual rights as more significant?
What concerns analysts like Mr. Rosenzweig is that there has not yet been a fundamental change of heart or spirit in Beijing behind the coming change.

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India lashes Pakistan after deadly Kashmir encounter

JAMMU, India (Reuters) - India denounced Pakistan on Wednesday over a firefight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two Indian soldiers were killed, but the nuclear-armed rivals both appeared determined to prevent the clash escalating into a full diplomatic crisis.

India summoned Pakistan's envoy in New Delhi to lodge a "strong protest", accusing a group of Pakistani soldiers it said had crossed the heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir of "barbaric and inhuman" behavior.

The body of one of the soldiers was found mutilated in a forested area on the side controlled by India, Rajesh K. Kalia, spokesman for the Indian army's Northern Command, said. However, he denied Indian media reports that one body had been decapitated and another had its throat slit.

"Regular Pakistan troops crossed the Line of Control ... and engaged the Indian troops who were patrolling the sector," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement after Pakistan's high commissioner to India had been called in.

"Two Indian soldiers were killed in the attack and their bodies subjected to barbaric and inhuman mutilation."

India's foreign minister sought to cool tensions, however, saying that exhaustive efforts to improve relations could be squandered if the situation was not contained.

"I think it is important in the long term that what has happened should not be escalated," Salman Khurshid told a news conference. "We cannot and must not allow the escalation of any unwholesome event like this."

"We have to be careful that forces ... attempting to derail all the good work that's been done towards normalization (of relations) should not be successful," he added, without elaborating on who such forces might be.

MOST SERIOUS INCIDENT IN 10 YEARS

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, and both are now nuclear-armed powers.

Away from the border, ties had appeared to be improving of late. Pakistan's cricket team completed a two-week tour of India on Sunday, its first visit in five years.

Firing and small skirmishes are common along the 740-km (460-mile) LoC despite a ceasefire that was agreed in 2003.

However, incursions by troops from either side are rare. Retired Indian army Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal, who previously commanded a brigade on the LoC, said Tuesday's incident - about 600 meters from the de facto border - marked the most serious infiltration since the ceasefire was put in place.

Indian army officials said cross-border firing broke out hours after the clash but, on Wednesday, the LoC was quiet.

Naveed Chand, a shopkeeper in Chatar village just 2 km from the LoC on the Pakistani side told Reuters by telephone that there had been a pick-up in cross-border firing recently, unusual movements of army trucks and reinforcement of bunkers.

"We think something is up. People in the area are very alarmed," he said.

It was not possible to independently verify events in the remote area, which is closed to journalists on both sides.

Pakistan's foreign ministry denied India's allegations of an incursion as "baseless and unfounded" and said in a statement that it was prepared for an investigation by a U.N. military observer group into recent ceasefire violations.

Like New Delhi, it stressed the need to pursue better relations, adding: "Pakistan is committed to a constructive, sustained and result-oriented process of engagement with India."

PROPAGANDA

Nevertheless, a Pakistani army spokesman described India's charges as "propaganda" aimed at diverting attention away from an Indian incursion two days earlier in which one Pakistani soldier was killed. India denies that its troops crossed over the line during last weekend's incident.

Mushahid Hussain, a Pakistani senator and member of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, said the Indian government - dogged by corruption scandals and facing a tough election as early as this year - was returning to "the war-like language of the past" for domestic political reasons.

"Pakistan has its hands full with a full-blown insurgency inside its borders. It doesn't suit Pakistani interests at all to raise the temperature along the LoC," Hussain said.

There was little coverage of the skirmish in Pakistani media, but a succession of commentators voiced fury on Indian news channels and the main opposition party urged the government to expose Pakistan's actions to the international community.

"Pakistan can be named and shamed for this brutal attack," Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters.

India considers the entire Kashmir region of snow-capped mountains and fertile valleys an integral part of its territory. Muslim Pakistan contests that and demands implementation of a 1948 U.N. Security Council resolution for a plebiscite to determine the wishes of the mostly Muslim people of Kashmir.

Some commentators drew parallels between Tuesday's clash and a conflict in 1999 when Pakistan-backed Islamist infiltrators occupied the heights in Kargil, in the north of Indian Kashmir. India lost hundreds of troops before re-occupying the mountains after fighting that almost triggered a fourth war.

"India's response will be measured but, as a former soldier, I do not rule out a measured military response to teach them a lesson," said retired Brigadier Kanwal. "You cannot tinker with bodies."

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Officials: Possible 5th killing by Mexico dog pack

, Jan. 9, 2013. Authorities have captured …more
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MEXICO CITY (AP) — A 15-year-old girl found fatally bitten by dogs outside a Mexico City park in mid-December may have been the first victim of a feral pack suspected of killing at least four other people over the last month, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Authorities began capturing dogs in the park this week after a mother and her infant boy were found dead and covered in dog bites on Dec. 29 and the bodies of a teenage couple were found covered in fatal bites from as many as 10 dogs a week later.
The four were believed to have been the only victims until the mother of 15-year-old Ana Gabriela Nataret Ramirez told Milenio Television lateTuesday that their daughter had died in hospital after being found covered with apparent dog bites near the Cerro de la Estrella park in the poor southeastern Mexico City district of Iztapalapa on the night of Dec. 16.
The city prosecutor's office confirmed the details of the case Wednesday and said it was looking into whether her case was connected to the other deaths.
"An autopsy revealed that the victim had multiple injuries and puncture wounds on both arms," the prosecutor's office said. "After the events of recent days, the Mexico City district attorney's office broadened the investigation and confirmed the possibility of a new case of homicide resulting from wounds caused by dogs."
Animal control officers swept the park for feral dogs again Wednesday after capturing 36 animals over the last two days. Borough president Jesus Valencia told reporters at the pound where the animals are being kept that 33 dogs were captured but his office said later that 36 dogs had been caught.
In addition to rabies, the dogs have been tested for traces of human blood and DNA in order to determine if they were involved in the killings. Valencia said the rabies tests had all come back negative, and the prosecutors' office said the other tests were pending.
He said the borough was helping pay funeral costs for the victims and get psychological help for the relatives.
Many family members have expressed skepticism that dogs could have killed their loved ones, saying their injuries appeared too devastating to have been the result of dog bites.
Valencia said that the borough planned to allow people to adopt any dogs not involved in the killings.
After authorities released photos of the captured dogs, activists started an online campaign protesting the animals' innocence and calling for authorities not to euthanize them. Tens of thousands of dogs are euthanized each year in Mexico if they are captured by animal control officers and not claimed within 72 hours.
Many people re-posted the images of the dogs staring sadly from behind bars at an animal shelter, and the hashtag for the campaign briefly became the top trending topic on Twitter in Mexico.
Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said his government would launch a new program to spay and neuter dogs in order to reduce the number of animals in the street, sending 25 mobile surgical units to neighborhoods where residents would be encouraged to take advantage of free sterilization for their pets.

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South Africa complete innings victory

Africa in Cape Town, January 4, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa completed an innings victory over New Zealand on Friday in a result which was never in doubt after the visitors collapsed to 45 all out before lunch on the opening day of the first test.
Dean Brownlie's maiden test century helped New Zealand to 232 for five at lunch on the third day after South Africa had declared their first innings closed at 347 for eight on Thursday.
However five wickets fell for 23 runs in a lower order collapse in the second session and the New Zealanders ended up 27 runs short of making the world number one side bat again.
Brownlie, who had been brought into the team as a replacement for Ross Taylor who opted out of the tour after he was replaced as captain by Brendon McCullum, resumed on day three with wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who was on 10.
The duo were resolute in the morning session and a frustrated Proteas' outfit were forced to watch as Brownlie reached his century with a big six over long-off from the bowling of Robin Peterson.
South Africa eventually got their man in the penultimate over before lunch as Brownlie cut a Morne Morkel delivery straight to Alviro Petersen on the point boundary having made 109.
Watling and James Franklin continued to frustrate the Proteas in the first hour following the break as they looked to avoid an innings defeat.
Three dropped catches had marred the hosts fielding display on day two and Franklin was next to be given a reprieve as ro Petersen grassed his second chance of the innings at gully.
A double-strike by Vernon Philander shortly before the drinks break crippled the New Zealand innings though, as Watling edged to first slip and was out for 42.
Doug Bracewell was caught at gully for a duck to reduce the Black Caps to 252 for seven and Jeetan Patel (8) was clearly rattled by the fearsome pace of Dale Steyn before eventually chopping on to his stumps.
The final two wickets fell in quick succession, as Franklin too played onto his stumps for 22 having lasted 103 minutes to leave New Zealand on the brink at 274 for nine.
The test match ended in a fittingly shambolic fashion for the Black Caps when Chris Martin was run out one delivery later without having faced a ball after being sent back by Trent Boult.
Philander won the man-of-the-match award for his match figures of 7-83, which included five for seven in the first innings.

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UPDATE 2-Cricket-South Africa complete innings victory

(Updates with quotes)
CAPE TOWN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - South Africa completed an innings victory over New Zealand within three days on Friday in a result which was never in doubt after the visitors collapsed to 45 all out before lunch on the opening day of the first test.
Dean Brownlie's maiden test century helped New Zealand to 232 for five at lunch on the third day after South Africa had declared their first innings closed at 347 for eight on Thursday.
However five wickets fell for 23 runs in a lower order collapse in the second session and the New Zealanders ended up 27 runs short of making the world number one side bat again.
Brownlie, who had been brought into the team as a replacement for Ross Taylor who opted out of the tour after he was replaced as captain by Brendon McCullum, resumed on day three with wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who was on 10.
The duo were resolute in the morning session and a frustrated Proteas' outfit were forced to watch as Brownlie reached his century with a big six over long-off from the bowling of Robin Peterson.
South Africa eventually got their man in the penultimate over before lunch as Brownlie cut a Morne Morkel delivery straight to Alviro Petersen on the point boundary having made 109.
Watling and James Franklin continued to frustrate the Proteas in the first hour following the break as they looked to avoid an innings defeat.
Three dropped catches had marred the hosts fielding display on day two and Franklin was next to be given a reprieve as ro Petersen grassed his second chance of the innings at gully.
A double-strike by Vernon Philander shortly before the drinks break crippled the New Zealand innings though, as Watling edged to first slip and was out for 42.
SPECIAL ATTACK
Doug Bracewell was caught at gully for a duck to reduce the Black Caps to 252 for seven and Jeetan Patel (8) was clearly rattled by the fearsome pace of Dale Steyn before eventually chopping on to his stumps.
The final two wickets fell in quick succession, as Franklin too played on to his stumps for 22 having lasted 103 minutes to leave New Zealand on the brink at 274 for nine.
The test match ended in a fittingly shambolic fashion for the Black Caps when Chris Martin was run out one delivery later without having faced a ball after being sent back by Trent Boult.
Philander won the man-of-the-match award for his match figures of 7-83, which included five for seven in the first innings. He has now captured 74 wickets in 13 tests at 17.40 runs each since making his debut in November 2011.
"I think it's a special attack, it's a special place. This unit, and the way we operate, having each guy know his role," he told a news conference.
"There's days where he (Steyn) attacks and I do a holding job, and then vice versa. I think as a unit, we understand each other well and that's the way we operate.
"I think with the intensity of our bowling lineup we're going to exploit the weaknesses somewhere along the line. I think Brownlie played exceptionally well, but giving his wicket away there just opened up the whole tail to our bowlers."
McCullum also praised the qusality of the South African pace bowling.
"The Australian attack of a few years ago was pretty relentless as well and it's no surprise that they were the number one in the world at that stage as well with the ability to take 20 wickets," he said.
"This South African team posseses that too and they keep coming hard at you and constantly put you under pressure. Their seam attack is right up there in terms of the best attacks and is certainly the number one attack in the world at the moment.

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Odd Mammal Thought Long Extinct in Australia May Still Live

A critically endangered mammal thought to be extinct in Australia since the last ice age may still exist there, a new study suggests.
That speculation comes from the discovery that at least one long-beaked echidna, an egg-laying mammal thought to exist only in New Guinea, was found in Australia in 1901 and that native Aborigine populations reported seeing the animal more recently. The 1901 specimen, described in the Dec. 28 issue of the journal Zookeys, had been shot and stuffed and was lying in a drawer, long forgotten, in the Natural History Museum in London.
"What's amazing about this study is it all hinges on a single specimen, and it's a very well-documented specimen that was collected in 1901 in Australia," said study co-author Kristofer Helgen, a zoologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. "It's taken until 2013 for myself and the team to really unbury the specimen from the cabinets of the Natural History Museum of London."
Primitive mammal
Monotremes, which include bizarre little mammals like the duckbill platypus, lay eggs like reptiles but feed their babies milk. They may have diverged from all other mammals as far back as the Triassic Period, which lasted from about 248 million to 206 million years ago. [Image Gallery: Photos of Bizarre Monotremes]
While short-beaked echidnas and duckbill platypuses still live in Australia, the long-beaked echidna, the largest monotreme in the world, was thought to live only in rainforests of New Guinea. The secretive creature, which can weigh up to 20 pounds (9 kilograms), is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Forgotten in a drawer
Scientists knew the spiny, nocturnal creatures once inhabited Australia but thought it died out after the last ice age, between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago, when New Guinea and Australia were one continent, Helgen said.
Helgen said he was visiting the Natural History Museum in London to look at its collections when he happened upon a skinned long-beaked echidna that was neatly tagged with the species name and where it was discovered.
It turns out that in 1901, an Australian naturalist named John Tunney shot the echidna on Mount Anderson, a mountain in a vast, arid and sparsely populated region of northwest Australia, while on an expedition for a British collector. Tunney, who was trained in taxidermy, stuffed and delivered the specimen, which was later bequeathed to the Natural History Museum. There it lay forgotten for a century.
Once they realized the echidna had been spotted in recent history, the team went back to aboriginal communities in the West Kimberley region. Some of the women remembered watching their parents hunt long-beaked echidnas.
"They remembered that there used to be an echidna in the area that was much larger, and they pointed to pictures of the modern long-beaked echidna from New Guinea," Helgen told LiveScience.
Still out there?
The new findings raise the possibility that the long-beaked echidna is still out there in Australia, and scientists should lead an expedition to find it, Helgen said. But the elusive, critically endangered creatures are difficult to spot even in New Guinea. They venture out at night, avoid humans and curl up into a spiky, unidentifiable ball at the first sign of danger, he said.
The discovery not only points to the importance of maintaining museum collections, it radically changes the picture of long-beaked echidnas, said Christopher Norris, a museums specialist at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the study. The New Guinea rain forest where long-beaked echidnas are normally seen is dramatically different from the rocky, arid scrubland of the Kimberley, Norris told LiveScience.

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Venezuelans obsess: Will Chavez live or die?

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — He's getting better. He's getting worse. He's already dead. The whole thing is a conspiracy and he was never sick in the first place.
The obsessive, circular conversations about President Hugo Chavez's health dominate family dinners, plaza chit-chats and social media sites in this country on edge since its larger-than-life leader went to Cuba for emergency cancer surgery more than two weeks ago. The man whose booming voice once dominated the airwaves for hours at a time has not been seen or heard from since.
His lieutenants have consistently assured Venezuelans over the last week that Chavez is slowly on the mend and will be back at the helm of the country he has dominated for 14 years. But when will he be back? Will he be well enough to govern? What type of cancer does he have? Is it terminal? If so, how long does he have to live?
Government officials have not answered any of those questions, leaving Venezuelans to their own speculations. The wildest conspiracy theories run the gamut from those who say there is no proof Chavez is even still alive to those who believe his illness is a made-up play for sympathy.
"Everything has been a mystery. Everyone believes what they want about the status of his health," said Ismael Garcia, a leftist lawmaker who belonged to the Chavez movement until a falling-out a few years ago.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro read out a New Year message from Chavez to Venezuelan troops on Friday, but for the fourth day in a row offered no updates on the president's health. Maduro had announced Monday night that Chavez was walking and doing some exercises.
The uncertainty comes with a sense of urgency because Chavez is scheduled to be sworn in for a new six-year term Jan. 10. The government and opposition disagree on what should happen if Chavez can't show up, raising the threat of a destabilizing legal fight. Beyond that, nobody knows if Chavez's deputies, who have long worked under his formidable shadow, can hold the country together if he dies.
Like everything else in this fiercely divided country, what people believe usually depends on where their political loyalty lies. Chavez opponents are mostly convinced that the president has terminal cancer, has known it for a long time and should not have sought re-election in October. His most fervent supporters refuse to believe "El Comandante" will die.
"Chavez is going to live on. He is a very important man. He has transformed the world with his ideology," said Victor Coba, a 48-year-old construction worker standing outside a Caracas church as government officials held a Mass to pray for the leader. "Anyone of us will die first before Chavez."
Coba scurried off to a street corner where officials were handing out a book of photographs of Chavez's recent presidential campaign. The comandante's grinning face looked out from the cover, alongside the slogan "Chavez, the heart of my country."
The same image looms from billboards erected all over Caracas, from freeway medians to the low-income apartment towers being built with Venezuelan oil wealth. Such services for the poor have helped Chavez maintain a core of followers despite high inflation, rampant gun violence, trash-strewn cities and other problems he has failed to fix.
For many, the attachment to Chavez borders on religious reverence. His supporters wish each other "Feliz Chavidad" rather than "Feliz Navidad," or Merry Christmas. Government officials have started talking about Chavez like an omnipresent deity.
"Chavez is this cable car. Chavez is this great mission. The children are Chavez. The women are Chavez. The men are Chavez. We are all Chavez," Maduro said recently while inaugurating a cable car to bring people down from one of the vast slums that creep up Caracas' hillsides. "Comandante, take care of yourself, get better and we will be waiting for you here."
Crowds of red-clad supporters roar their approval each time Maduro reassures them. But on the streets, confusion reigns.
"People say he's going to get better," said Alibexi Birriel, an office manager eating at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day.
Her husband Richard Hernandez shook his head. "No. Most people say Chavez is going to die and that Nicolas Maduro is going to take power."
Birriel paused, chiming in, "Well, some think this whole thing is theater and that there's nothing wrong with him."
Hernandez, who described himself as a Chavez supporter but "not a fanatic," shrugged. "The opposition thinks that if Chavez died they are going to win the elections. That is not going to happen."
There have been some official details. Chavez, 58, first underwent surgery for an unspecified type of pelvic cancer in Cuba in June 2011 and went back this month after tests had found a return of malignant cells in the same area where tumors had already been twice removed. Venezuelan officials said that following a six-hour surgery Dec. 11, Chavez suffered internal bleeding that was stanched and a respiratory infection that was being treated.
Just five months earlier, Chavez had announced he was free of cancer. But he acknowledged the seriousness of his illness earlier before flying to Cuba this month by designating Maduro as his successor and telling his supporters to vote for the vice president should new elections be necessary. Outside doctors have said that judging from the information Chavez has provided, his cancer is likely terminal, though the government has never confirmed that.
On Christmas Eve, Maduro surprised Venezuelans by saying he had spoken to Chavez by telephone and that the president was up and walking. With no other details, that only set off another round of furious speculation.
"I don't think he can be standing up walking," said Dr. Gustavo Medrano, a lung specialist at the Centro Medico hospital in Caracas. "Unless ... there are a lot of lies in this and the surgery was not six hours ... but something else much simpler, much simpler, maybe a half-hour operation, or two hours, something like that and that he is now recovering. That is possible."
Chavez supporters tweeted their relief and joy. Opponents tweeted incredulity. They traded insults in the comment sections of newspaper websites. Some posters demanded to know where the proof was that the president was even still alive. Others wondered if he had ever been sick in the first place. Chavez supporters shot back that the rumor-mongering should stop.
One Chavez foe finally posted on the Ultimas Noticias newspaper website, "Bla, bla, bla ... He's getting better, he's dying, he has nothing, he's strong as a bull, he can't get of bed, all the hypotheses are valid because there is no proof of anything."
Amid the raging rumors, Chavez's daughter, Maria Gabriela Chavez, sent out a Twitter message from Havana last week pleading for it all to stop.
"Respect for my family and especially respect for my people. Enough lies! We are with papa. ALIVE, fighting and recovering. WITH GOD," she wrote.
Teresa Maniglia, a press officer at the presidential palace, has kept up a steady stream of cheerleading tweets.

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Mexico finds smuggling tunnel near US border

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities have discovered a sophisticated smuggling tunnel equipped with electricity and ventilation not far from the Nogales port of entry into Arizona, U.S. and Mexican officials said Friday.
The Mexican army said the tunnel was found Thursday after authorities received an anonymous call in the border city of Nogales, Sonora, south of Arizona. U.S. law enforcement officials confirmed that the Mexican military had discovered the football field-long tunnel with elaborate electricity and ventilation systems.
U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Victor Brabble said the tunnel did not cross into the U.S.
The army said the anonymous caller was reporting gunmen standing outside a two-story house in a hilly neighborhood near the international bridge where motorists travel between Mexico and the United States.
Inside the house, soldiers discovered a fake wall inside a storage closet under a staircase that led to a dark room with buckets and clothes. After lifting a drain cover in that room, soldiers found another staircase at the entrance of the tunnel that went 16 feet underground and measured a yard in diameter. Light bulbs lit the underground passage and pipes stretched across the 120-yard tunnel that Mexican army officials believe was built to smuggle drugs.
It was unclear whether officials made any arrests, but the house where the tunnel was found was seized by the local government. Military officials did not say how long they believed the tunnel had been under construction, but authorities say it can take six months to a year to build such a passage.
Sophisticated secret tunnels stretching across the international border have become increasingly common as drug cartels invent new ways to smuggle enormous loads of heroin, marijuana and other drugs into U.S.
More than 70 such tunnels have been found since October 2008, most of them concentrated along the border in California and Arizona. In Nogales, Arizona, smugglers tap into vast underground drainage canals.

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Venezuelan VP heads to Cuba to visit ailing Chavez

HAVANA (AP) — Venezuela's vice president arrived in Havana to visit President Hugo Chavez as he recovers from cancer surgery, Cuban official media said early Saturday.
Communist Party newspaper Granma published online a photo of Vice President Nicolas Maduro being greeted at the airport in the Cuban capital by the island's foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez.
"From there, (Maduro) went directly to the hospital where President Hugo Chavez Frias is receiving treatment to greet his family members and Venezuelan Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza Monserrat, and to discuss with doctors the adequate moment to visit the President the same day," the paper said.
Granma added that Maduro was accompanied by Venezuelan Attorney General Cilia Flores.
The previous night in Caracas, Venezuela, Maduro did not specify how long he would be away but said Energy Minister Hector Navarro would be in charge of government affairs in the meantime.
Maduro's trip comes amid growing uncertainty about Chavez's health.
The Venezuelan leader has not been seen or heard from since undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery Dec. 11, and government officials have said he might not return in time for his scheduled Jan. 10 inauguration for a new six-year term. There have been no updates on Chavez's condition since Maduro announced Monday night that he had received a phone call from the president who was up and walking.
Maduro is the highest ranking Venezuelan official to visit Chavez since the surgery. Bolivian President Evo Morales traveled to Cuba last weekend in a quick trip that only added to the uncertainty surrounding Chavez's condition. Morales has not commented publicly on his visit or even confirmed that he saw Chavez while he was there.
Earlier Friday, Maduro read a New Year message from Chavez to Venezuelan troops, though it was unclear when the president composed it.
"I have had to battle again for my health," Chavez said in the message. He expressed "complete faith in the commitment and loyalty that the revolutionary armed forces are showing me in this very complicated and difficult moment."
A group of opposition candidates demanded Friday that Maduro provide an official medical report on Chavez's health. Lawmaker Dinorah Figuera said the country needs "a medical report from those who are responsible for the diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of the president."
"The Venezuelan people deserve official and institutional information," Figuera told Venezuelan media.
Before leaving for Cuba, Chavez acknowledged the precariousness of his situation and designated Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the vice president if a new presidential election was necessary.
A legal fight is brewing over what should happen if Chavez, who was re-elected in October, cannot return in time for the inauguration before the National Assembly.
National Assembly Diosdado Cabello insisted Monday that Venezuela's constitution allows the president to take the oath before the Supreme Court at any time if he cannot do it before the legislature on Jan. 10.
Opposition leaders argue the constitution requires that new elections be held within 30 days if Chavez cannot take office Jan. 10. They have criticized the confusion over the inauguration as the latest example of the Chavez government's disdain for democratic rule of law and have demanded clarity on whether the president is fit to govern.

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Bolivia expropriates Spanish energy subsidiaries

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — President Evo Morales nationalized the Bolivian electricity distribution subsidiaries of the Spanish energy company Iberdrola in a public ceremony Saturday.
Morales issued a decree allowing the takeover of shares in Empresa de Electricidad de La Paz (Electropaz) and Empresa de Luz y Fuerza de Oruro (Elfeo), which supply energy in this Andean nation.
Soldiers guarded the installations of the electricity distribution companies, marked with signs reading: "Nationalized."
In the ceremony at Bolivia's government palace, Morales also announced the expropriation of an investment management company and a service provider belonging to the Spanish energy giant.
Morales said he had "been forced to take this step" to ensure that electric service rates remain "equitable" in the regions of La Paz and Oruro.
The Spanish government said in a statement that it regretted Bolivia's decision to nationalize companies that included "Spanish, Argentine and American companies among its shareholders."
Spain said it hoped "the process of assessing the value of the nationalized company is done with high standards of objectivity that would establish the just compensation to which shareholders are entitled."
Telephone calls and emails seeking comment from Iberdrola in Spain were not immediately answered.
The decree read by Morales calls for Iberdrola to receive indemnification after an independent firm is hired within 180 days to determine the value of the nationalized shares.
Morales in May also nationalized Transportadora de Electricidad belonging to Spanish company Red Electrica, which controlled 74 percent of energy transmission in Bolivia.
In his first year in office in 2006, the Bolivian president nationalized the oil industry through a renegotiation of contracts with a dozen oil companies, including Repsol, Petrobras, BG and Total.
In 2009 Morales transferred to state control the country's largest telephone operator, which had been controlled by Italy's ETI, and in 2010 he did the same with the four largest power generators, which had belonged to French-owned Suez, Rurelec of Britain and Bolivian shareholders.

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Mexico City orders prison in animal cruelty cases

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City lawmakers have approved prison terms for animal cruelty, previously considered a civil offense sanctioned with fines and detentions.
The capital's legislative assembly unanimously agreed that people who intentionally abuse and cause animals harm will face up to two years in prison and pay up to $500. If the animal is killed, they can face up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.
Antonio Padierna, president of the assembly's law enforcement and justice committee, said late Friday that if animals are killed for food, the death must be quick and not cause pain.
The lawmakers agreed current administrative laws weren't doing enough to end animal cruelty. In Mexico City, animals are sometimes killed by being burned, beaten or shot.

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Cricket-Tsotsobe ruled out of Twenty20 series

DURBAN, Dec 21 (Reuters) - South Africa left-arm pace bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe has been ruled out of the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand starting on Friday after suffering an ankle injury, Cricket South Africa said.
Lonwabo, 28 was taken for a scan on Thursday after bowling 10 balls in the nets on the eve of the first international.
His withdrawal follows the news that another pace bowler Vernon Philander in an injury doubt for the first test starting in Cape Town on Jan. 2 after injuring a hamstring in a domestic first class match. (Reporting by Jason Humphries; Editing by John Mehaffey)

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Tsotsobe ruled out of Twenty20 series

DURBAN (Reuters) - South Africa left-arm pace bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe has been ruled out of the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand starting on Friday after suffering an ankle injury, Cricket South Africa said.
Lonwabo, 28 was taken for a scan on Thursday after bowling 10 balls in the nets on the eve of the first international.
His withdrawal follows the news that another pace bowler Vernon Philander in an injury doubt for the first test starting in Cape Town on January 2 after injuring a hamstring in a domestic first class match.

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Cricket-South Africa v New Zealand Twenty20 scoreboard

DURBAN, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Scoreboard from the first
Twenty20 International between South Africa and New Zealand at
Kingsmead Stadium on Friday.
New Zealand
R.Nicol c de Kock b Kleinveldt 3
P.Fulton c Morris b Steyn 9
B.McCullum c Steyn b Kleinveldt 6
J.Franklin c de Kock b McLaren 0
C.Munro c and b Morris 23
C.Anderson c Levi b Morris 5
N.McCullum b Peterson 1
J.Neesham b Peterson 10
D.Bracewell not out 21
R.Hira c Kleinveldt b Steyn 5
M.McClenaghan c Peterson b Kleinveldt 0
Extras (lb-1, w-2) 3
Total (all out in 18.2 overs) 86
Fall: 1-9, 2-19, 3-19, 4-27, 5-34, 6-36, 7-54, 8-60, 9-81
Bowling: McLaren 4-0-27-1, Steyn 3-0-13-2 (1w), Kleinveldt
3.2-1-18-3, Morris 3.4-0-19-2 (1w), Peterson 4-0-8-2, Du Plessis
0.2-0-0-0.
South Africa
R.Levi c Fulton b McClenaghan 0
H.Davids b Hira 20
F.du Plessis not out 38
Q.de Kock not out 28
Extras (w-1) 1
Total (for two wickets in 12.1 overs) 87
Fall: 1-0, 2-45
Bowling: McClenaghan 3-1-20-1, Bracewell 2-0-21-0 (1w), Hira
3-0-15-1, Anderson 1-0-11-0, N.McCullum 2-0-7-0, Nicol 1-0-11-0,
Neesham 0.1-0-2-0.
South Africa won by eight wickets and lead three-match
series 1-0.

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Tennis-Robson, Watson to warm up for Australian Open in Hobart

MELBOURNE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - British Olympic silver medallist Laura Robson and compatriot Heather Watson will warm up for the Australian Open at the Jan. 4-12 Hobart International, organisers said on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Robson, who won mixed doubles silver with men's singles champion Andy Murray at the London Olympics, will make her first appearance at the Tasmanian tournament headlined by former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
Watson, 20, who became Britain's first WTA champion in 24 years with her win at the Japan Open in October, returns for her second appearance after playing this year's tournament as a qualifier.
The Australian Open starts Jan. 14. (Writing by Ian Ransom; Editing by Frank Pingue)

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Robson, Watson to warm up for Australian Open in Hobart

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - British Olympic silver medalist Laura Robson and compatriot Heather Watson will warm up for the Australian Open at the January 4-12 Hobart International, organisers said on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Robson, who won mixed doubles silver with men's singles champion Andy Murray at the London Olympics, will make her first appearance at the Tasmanian tournament headlined by former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
Watson, 20, who became Britain's first WTA champion in 24 years with her win at the Japan Open in October, returns for her second appearance after playing this year's tournament as a qualifier.
The Australian Open starts January 14.

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