"We don't have that sort of power," Murdoch tells inquiry

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• "We don't have that sort of power," Murdoch tells inquiry
• Pakistan PM convicted of contempt, receives no jail time
• Pakistan military's grip on foreign policy easing
• China shows off its own Panchen Lama on trip outside mainland
• Brazil sex worker may sue U.S. embassy over injuries
• Bo bugged phone call to China President Hu: report
• Three strikes and you're out, Afghan government tells unruly clerics
• North Korea's invective against South for domestic consumption
• Japan's Ozawa cleared in funding scandal, may challenge PM
• Syria violence rages, France tells U.N. to hurry
• Analysts say North Korea's new missiles are fakes
• Pakistan's top court convicts PM of contempt
• Syria blames rebels for massive blast in Hama
• Iraqi plate dealers benefit as new car sales soar
• Suu Kyi hopes Myanmar oath dispute is settled soon
• Oldest former major leaguer turns 101 in Cuba
• Argentine Senate approves of YPF takeover
• Japan political power broker acquitted in scandal
• I'm not that powerful, Rupert Murdoch tells judge
• Breivik's publicity at trial just what he wanted

"We don't have that sort of power," Murdoch tells inquiry Posted: LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch is used to slipping into Downing Street by the back door for discreet meetings with prime ministers, but there was no such privacy on Wednesday when he faced a grilling about his political influence in the full glare of the world's media. It was one of the most extraordinary days in a career spanning six decades that has seen the owner of a provincial Australian newspaper morph into a global media magnate credited with the power to make or break governments. ...

Pakistan PM convicted of contempt, receives no jail time Posted: ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday found Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani guilty of contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against the president, but gave him only a symbolic sentence of a few minutes' detention in the courtroom. It was unclear if the token sentence would defuse political uncertainty in Pakistan, where the president and prime minister have jousted with the military and judiciary. Despite the light sentence, Gilani could still come under pressure to quit. ...

Pakistan military's grip on foreign policy easing Posted: ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's military, which has dominated the country for much of its turbulent history, has less sway over foreign policy, and a new power equation is emerging within America's strategic ally, said the foreign minister. Pakistan has been directly ruled by generals for more than half of its 64-year history and indirectly for much of the rest. The military has largely controlled foreign and security policies, and has taken the lead in relations with Washington. ...

China shows off its own Panchen Lama on trip outside mainland Posted: HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Tibetan youth named by Beijing as the 11th Panchen Lama but reviled by many Tibetans as a fake made his first trip outside mainland China on Thursday as he is groomed to become the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama dies. Gyaltsen Norbu, 22, was selected as a boy by officially atheist Beijing in 1995 as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism in its drive to win the hearts and minds of Tibetans. ...

Brazil sex worker may sue U.S. embassy over injuries Posted: BRASILIA (Reuters) - A former Brazilian prostitute plans to sue the United States embassy and five of its personnel for injuries sustained outside a strip club late last year, complicating the second of two embarrassing incidents to emerge recently involving American officials and sex workers in South America. Romilda Aparecida Ferreira, 31, and her lawyer said they plan to file suit for injuries, medical expenses, lost income, and psychological trauma after an embassy van ran over her and left her stranded in the club parking lot with a broken collarbone, punctured lung and other injuries. ...

Bo bugged phone call to China President Hu: report Posted: BEIJING (Reuters) - A wiretapping network run by Chongqing officials was detected on a phone call made to Chinese President Hu Jintao in August, a discovery that helped topple the city's ambitious party chief Bo Xilai, the New York Times reported. The Times report said nearly a dozen sources with Communist Party ties had confirmed the wiretapping and the widespread bugging program. The Party's official version of events has omitted the tapped call by a visiting Chinese minister to Hu in August. If true, the report confirms rumors of the incident that had spread since Bo's ouster in March. ...

Three strikes and you're out, Afghan government tells unruly clerics Posted: KABUL/HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan has stepped up efforts to stop clerics from inciting violence or preaching anti-government slogans in mosques, giving unruly mullahs three chances to change their ways or face dismissal and possibly jail. In Afghanistan, where most men go to Friday prayers, sermons are a critical influence on both sides of the conflict with insurgents looking to gain support and recruits, and NATO and Afghan forces aiming to counter militant messages as Western combat troops look to pull out by the end of 2014. ...

North Korea's invective against South for domestic consumption Posted: SEOUL (Reuters) - "Rat" and "bastard" are two of the more personal insults that have been flung at South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in recent days by North Korea's media, along with threats to "exterminate" him and reduce the South's capital to ashes. The rhetoric has alarmed Seoul which has stepped up security and comes as North Korea recently showcased its military might in a parade to celebrate its founder's birth and is believed to be readying a third nuclear test that could threaten regional security. ...

Japan's Ozawa cleared in funding scandal, may challenge PM Posted: TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese court on Thursday acquitted former ruling party chief Ichiro Ozawa of violating political funding laws, allowing the veteran politician to return to his familiar role of being a thorn in the side of the prime minister. The verdict by a Tokyo district court will likely add to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's struggle to preserve party unity and push through a contentious sales tax hike plan that Ozawa and his faction in the party fiercely oppose. ...

Syria violence rages, France tells U.N. to hurry Posted: BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces shot dead four civilians on a bus on Wednesday and fighting raged near Damascus, dissidents said, as international pressure mounted on President Bashar al-Assad to honor U.N.-backed ceasefire pledges to order his troops back to barracks. In the city of Hama, an anti-Assad hotbed, an explosion ripped through a building, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. ...

Analysts say North Korea's new missiles are fakes Posted: Analysts who have studied photos of a half-dozen ominous new North Korean missiles showcased recently at a lavish military parade say they were fakes, and not very convincing ones, casting further doubt on the country's claims of military prowess.

Pakistan's top court convicts PM of contempt Posted: The Supreme Court convicted Pakistan's prime minister of contempt on Thursday but spared him a prison term for refusing to reopen a corruption case against his boss, the president, leaving the premier in power but facing fresh calls to resign.

Syria blames rebels for massive blast in Hama Posted: Syria's state news agency says a massive explosion that tore through a residential area and killed at least 16 people in the city of Hama was caused by anti-regime bomb-makers who mishandled explosives.

Iraqi plate dealers benefit as new car sales soar Posted: By the time Ibrahim Khaled Mohammed turned to a car dealer looking for an offer, his 1983 Volkswagen Passat could barely move.

Suu Kyi hopes Myanmar oath dispute is settled soon Posted: Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday she was hopeful a dispute over Myanmar's legislative oath would be overcome soon, calling it a "technical problem" that should not end in political deadlock.

Oldest former major leaguer turns 101 in Cuba Posted: Conrado Marrero can still remember the crisp feeling of slipping on his Washington Senators uniform, and the surge of adrenaline he got staring down Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and other major league batters. But the diminutive right-hander's glory days are a world — and a revolution — away.

Argentine Senate approves of YPF takeover Posted: Argentina's Senate on early Thursday approved the forced takeover of the YPF oil company from Spain's Repsol.

Japan political power broker acquitted in scandal Posted: Ichiro Ozawa, the veteran Japanese lawmaker who engineered the ruling party's rise to power, was acquitted Thursday in a political funding scandal that has damaged his chances of becoming prime minister.

I'm not that powerful, Rupert Murdoch tells judge Posted: News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch said Wednesday that his globe-spanning TV and newspaper empire doesn't carry as much political sway as is often believed, telling a British inquiry into media ethics that he wasn't the power behind the throne often depicted by his enemies.

Breivik's publicity at trial just what he wanted Posted: As Anders Behring Breivik has given shocking and remorseless accounts to a Norwegian court of how he massacred 77 people, his testimony has revived a debate about how much of a public platform mass-murderers should be given in trials.

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