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AP International NewsBrief at 5:30 p.m. EST(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nations struggle to make even modest climate dealsCANCUN, Mexico (AP) _ Weary delegates from almost 200 nations struggled through night and day Friday to cobble together final decisions wrapping up the U.N. climate conference, small steps to revive the faltering, yearslong talks to guard the Earth against planetary warming. No grand compact mandating deep cuts in global warming gases was in the cards. Instead, the two-week session focused on a proliferation of secondary issues _ a "Green Fund" to help poor nations, deforestation, technology sales and other matters. Famous Christian landmark tree chopped down in UKLONDON (AP) _ Legend has it that the rare thorn tree on a hill in southern England had ties to the earliest days of Christianity, and pilgrims often left offerings at its base. In more recent times, local children honored its current incarnation each year by cutting sprigs to place on Queen Elizabeth II's Christmas dining table. Now British police want to know who sawed the limbs off the Glastonbury Holy Thorn Tree, reducing it to a stump. And they want to know why. La Familia cartel chief believed killed in MexicoMEXICO CITY (AP) _ The eccentric leader of the brutal La Familia drug cartel is believed to have been killed in a shootout during two days of fighting between federal police and gunmen that terrified civilians across a western Mexican state, the government said Friday. The death of Nazario Moreno Gonzalez _ nicknamed "The Craziest One" _ would be a major blow to a drug cartel that burst into national prominence four years ago by rolling severed heads into a nightclub and declaring that its mission was to protect Michoacan state from rival gangs and petty criminals. Iran airs new confession by woman in stoning caseTEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery confessed to helping a man kill her husband and re-enacted the alleged murder in an interview shown Friday on Iranian state television _ an apparent effort by the government to deflect international criticism over the case. It was the fourth time Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani has been shown on TV as Tehran faced an international outcry over the announcement that she would be stoned to death, the latest source of friction between Iran and the West. Jailed Chinese dissident honored at Nobel ceremonyOSLO, Norway (AP) _ With a large portrait of a smiling Liu Xiaobo hanging front and center, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee crossed the dais and gently placed the peace prize diploma and medal on an empty chair. Ambassadors, royalty and other dignitaries rose in a standing ovation. The man they honored wasn't there Friday _ he is serving an 11-year sentence at Jinzhou Prison in northeastern China for urging sweeping changes to Beijing's one-party communist political system. Haiti candidates move toward direct confrontationPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Haitians prepared for more violence Friday as rival candidates told supporters to take to streets and tip the balance in a sharply disputed presidential election stained by claims of fraud. Barricades were cleared overnight, but new flaming piles of tires were set up in parts of the city to block off traffic. People rushed to stores opening for the first time in three days to get food, water and provisions for fear the riots will heat up again. Spam downloads surge among WikiLeaks supportersLONDON (AP) _ WikiLeaks supporters on Friday downloaded increasing amounts of the spam-shooting software used to attack companies seen as hostile _ a development that could challenge even Internet giants such as PayPal and Amazon.com during the crucial Christmas shopping season. U.S. data security company Imperva says downloads of the attack program used to bombard websites with bogus requests for data have jumped to over 40,000, with thousands of new downloads reported overnight. Navratilova hospitalized after Kilimanjaro attemptNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) _ Martina Navratilova was hospitalized in Kenya because of fluid accumulation in her lungs after attempting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. The 54-year-old tennis great is expected to recover. Navratilova was diagnosed with high-altitude pulmonary edema, Dr. David Silverstein, a consultant in cardiology and internal medicine at Nairobi Hospital, said Friday. Royal attack prompts questions on UK securityLONDON (AP) _ It was a wrong-place, wrong-time brush with danger: Protesting students _ some chanting "Off with their heads!" _ attacked Prince Charles and his wife Camilla as they rode in their vintage Rolls-Royce to a charity event at a London theater. How could the mob have gotten so close, so easily, to the future king? UNICEF: Polio kills 206 in Republic of CongoJOHANNESBURG (AP) _ A rare and unusually fatal outbreak of polio in Republic of Congo has caused more than 200 deaths in the Central African nation, a UNICEF spokesman said Friday. The disease usually strikes children under 5, but most of those affected have been young men between the ages of 15 and 24, said Martin Dawes, the agency's West Africa spokesman. (c) 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |