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Nigeria Buries Victims in Mass Graves
Hundreds of people have now been buried in mass graves in Nigeria, after religious violence left over 500 people dead near the city of Jos.
Most of the dead are women and children, who were shot and hacked to death in the early morning.
Religious violence has been flaring up in the region for years. The area lies between the mostly Muslim north and more Christian south.
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has now ordered security forces to prevent more weapons being brought into the area.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the country's political and religious leaders to solve the nation's crisis.

US Envoy in Mid East to Begin Peace Talks
George Mitchell, the US Mid East envoy is in the region to begin peace talks between Palestinans and Israelis.
The meetings come after Israelis and Palestinians finally agreed to begin indirect talks, breaking a long impasse in peace negotiations.
But reaching an agreement will be difficult--Israel authorized the construction of new apartments in the West Bank just one day after Palestinians agreed to resume peace talks. Mitchell is expected to shuttle between Israel and the Palestinian territories over the next several weeks.

Turkey Quake Survivors Wait for Relief from Winter Cold
Survivors from the earthquake that hit eastern Turkey have been huddling in aid tents, seeking relief from the winter cold. Most stone and mud-brick houses in the area were easily knocked down during the quake and after shocks. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also urged residents not to enter any damaged homes, in case of more tremors.
The 5.9 magnitude earthquake has so far killed 51 people.

Suicide Car Blast in Pakistan Kills 13
At least 13 people have been killed and many more injured in a suicide blast in Pakistan’s eastern city, Lahore.
A car packed with explosives rammed into a building that housed an anti-terrorist wing of the federal investigative agency.
Although Lahore has been attacked several times in the past year, this blast broke a relative lull in violence in Pakistan.

Myannmar to Hold Elections for First Time in 20 Years
Myanmar has passed a series of laws that set the stage for the country’s first election in 20 years.
The new legislation will be published in newspapers this week. The laws will set out the rules for the election and campaigning, and the conditions under which parties can participate.
Myanmar's military government says the elections will be held sometime this year--although a specific date has not yet been set.

Students Return to School in Chile
Live is slowly returning to normal in Chile, where school children are now returning to their classrooms. The country was rocked by a devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake more than a week ago.
Chiles education minister said 80 percent of students have returned to classes. But the rest can't go back yet because their school buildings were too badly damaged by the quake.
Authorities say they are now working on moving schools into more secure buildings.

Northeast China prison escapee caught
A man who escaped from a prison in Heilongjiang Province two weeks ago has finally been caught.
21-year old Chen Congcong, was caught Monday afternoon in a grocery store in Harbin.
Chen and his cell mate, who was caught earlier, escaped from a prison in Harbin on Feb. 23rd.
The two had just begun a 10-year jail term for robbery.

2,000 bereaved mothers conceive again in quake-stricken SW China
Women whose children were killed or disabled during the earthquake in Sichuan Province in 2008 have been exempted from the country's one-child policy.
The Sichuan provincial legislature passed the special regulation. Since 2008, more than 2000 mothers have had another baby or become pregnant again.

China's fastest super computer to have China-made chips
China's fastest super computer "Tianhe-1" is to be equipped this year with China-made CPU chips, replacing the only part of the computer that is currently imported.
"Tianhe-1," unveiled in October last year, is capable of more than one quadrillion calculations per second when operating at peak speed.
The super computer is equipped with over 6000 Intel CPUs and 5000 AMD graphic processing units.

Oldest Women in US Dies, Age 114
The oldest woman in the US has died at the age of 114.
Mary Josephine Ray died at her nursing home in New Hampshire. But she was active until about two weeks before her death, according to her granddaughter.
Ray was born in 1895 in Prince Edward Island, Canada. She moved to the United States at age 3.
She was also the second-oldest person in the world, and the oldest person to ever live in New Hampshire.

"Hurt-Locker" wins big at Oscar
For the first time in the 82-year history of the Academy Awards, a woman has won an Oscar for best director-- Hollywood's top prize for filmmakers.
Kathryn Bigelow and her Iraq War drama "The Hurt Locker" won a total of 6 awards, including Best Picture.