Israel PM calls early election

AFP, Jerusalem

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday kicked off his re-election bid after calling snap polls that he is tipped towin.

Following his announcement late on Tuesday that the election was to be brought forward, Netanyahu fired the unofficial starting gun to a campaign expected to see Israelis go to the polls in January or February.

Although he did not give a date for the election, commentators said it was likely to take place between January 22 and February 12, with a date to be determined next week when parliament recon-

Pussy Riot trial: Russia frees 1

A IP, Moscow

A Russian appeals court yesterday ordered the release of one member of anti-Vladimir Putin punk band Pussy Riot after giving her a suspended term but ordered two others serve two years in a prison camp.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, were contesting their conviction for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred over performing a song opposing Putin in Moscow's main cathedral in February.

Earlier, all three had defiantly maintained their innocence, telling the court their cathedral performance of "Virgin Mary, redeem us of Putin!" was aimed

Daredevil space jump aborted

AFP, Los Angeles

Strong winds forced Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner to abort his attempt on Tuesday at a record-breaking leap to Earth from the edge of space.

A new bid could be made later this week, a spokeswoman said, but everything depends on the weather, and the mission has only one spare balloon, after the first one was rendered unusable by the canceled launch.

The five-minute countdown had begun ticking down as the veteran sky diver prepared to hurl himself from a pressurized capsule 120,000 feet (37,000

Jordan king names new PM

AFP, Amman

Jordan's King Abdullah II yesterday designated veteran politician Abdullah Nsur to form a new government after prime minister Fayez Tarawneh and his government resigned ahead of legislative polls.

The king last Thursday dissolved the parliament and called early elections. No date has been given for the polls, but the monarch has said he wants them to be held by the end of 2012.

The newly established Independent Election Commission will set the election date.

Mine Unrest: Parties strike deal

AFP, Johannesburg

South Africa's gold mine owners and unions representing picketing workers yesterday said they had reached a deal aimed at ending months of industrial unrest that has curbed production of the precious metal.

Negotiators for the Chamber of Mines and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) agreed to a series of pay rises that will be put to striking workers

for approval.

The deal, if ratified, would see a pay increase for entry-level workers, and an "allowance" for rock drill and the creation of new pay scales.