1.Hugo Chavez dies at 58

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died on March 5 after a two-year battle with cancer, ending 14 years of rule.

    The 58-year-old president had undergone four operations in Cuba for a cancer that was first detected in his pelvic region* in mid-2011. His last surgery was Dec. 11.

    Vice President Nicolas Maduro is caretaker* president until elections are called within 30 days.

    Seven days of mourning* for Chavez started on Friday. Politicians worldwide attended the mourning.

    2. S. Korea vows to strike back

    South Korea’s military said it will strike back* at North Korea if Pyongyang launches a threatened attack in response to the drills* by U.S. and South Korean forces.

    Tensions have been rising across the Korean Peninsula since the North, under the lead of Kim Jong Un, launched a long-range rocket last December.

    3. Syrian rebels seize U.N. peacekeepers

    Syrian rebels have seized a convoy of U.N. peacekeepers* near the Golan Heights and say they will hold them captive until President Bashar al-Assad’s forces pull back from a village that has seen heavy recent fighting.

    The capture was announced in videos posted on the Internet and confirmed on March 6 by the United Nations, which said about 20 peacekeepers had been detained.

    The seizure* is the most direct threat to U.N. personnel in the nearly two-year-old uprising against Assad.

    4. North Korea rejects U.N. sanctions

    North Korea formally rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution* on Saturday that demands an end to its nuclear arms program.

    Pyongyang said it would pursue its goal of becoming a full-fledged* nuclear weapons state, despite the sanctions*.

    The sanctions aim to tighten financial restrictions and crack down on North Korea’s attempts to transport banned cargo*.

    5. Kenyatta wins Kenya vote

    Uhuru Kenyatta, indicted for crimes against humanity, was declared winner of Kenya’s presidential election on Saturday, but rival Raila Odinga said he would challenge the outcome in court and asked supporters to avoid violence.

    Kenyatta, Kenya’s richest man and son of its founding president, faces trial on charges of playing a leading role in the wave of tribal killings that followed the disputed 2007 presidential election.

    6. Canadian killer heading back to court

    Luka Rocco Magnotta, accused in the murder of Chinese-born university student Lin Jun, is scheduled to appear in a Montreal courtroom on Monday for a preliminary hearing*.

    Magnotta’s lawyer has filed a motion* in Quebec Court requesting that the public be banned from the courtroom. Heavy media coverage is expected at the hearing.

    Magnotta became the subject of an international manhunt in May after Lin’s body parts were mailed to various locations and offices across Canada. Magnotta has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

    7. Gang rape suspect hangs himself

    A man on trial for the gang rape and fatal* beating of a woman aboard a bus in New Delhi committed suicide* in an Indian jail on Monday.

    Ram Singh, who was accused of driving the bus on which the 23-year-old student was raped by a group of six men in December, was under suicide watch at New Delhi’s Tihar Jail when he hanged himself with his own clothes at about 5:30 a.m., police said.

    Singh and his four fellow defendants* were facing the death penalty if convicted of the attack. A sixth accused is being tried and jailed separately because he is a juvenile*.(SD-Agencies)