The World

Thursday

A piece of Antarctica named after her, a baby llama, tea from Sri Lanka and her own set of Olympic medals were just some of the gifts given to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during her 2012 diamond jubilee year.

Six pesos (~$1.20) a day. That's all it takes to eat in Argentina, at least according to the government. The International Monetary Fund moved closer to sanctioning Argentina for inaccurate inflation data, while in Buenos Aires you can't find a can of soda for less than eight pesos.

A lawyer in Germany claims surgeons left up to 16 objects in her client's body after an operation for prostate cancer. She is seeking 80,000 euros ($106,216) plus costs for the family of the patient, who has since died.

Friday

A Nicaraguan judge on Friday gave 30-year prison terms to 18 Mexicans who posed as journalists and were found guilty last month of drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime.

U.S. President Barack Obama's message of hope and change has inspired his half-brother Malik to launch a political career of his own, with his eye on elections in Kenya in March.

A New York newspaper pulled the names and addresses of thousands of gun permit holders from its website on Friday, ending a fierce battle over the data published after the Connecticut elementary school massacre.

Weekend

A Czech man set himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square on Sunday, just days after the anniversary of student Jan Palach's immolation in 1969 to protest at the occupation of Czechoslovakia, police said.

A pickup truck used by former President George W. Bush at his Texas ranch was sold for $300,000 at an auction after he donated it to benefit a charity that serves U.S. military families.

Humane society members wearing protective masks removed nearly 300 animals including pigeons, chickens and rabbits from an Ohio man's reeking house. Most of the animals are expected to survive including some that were sick.

Monday

President Barack Obama took the oath of office for a second term in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. Obama was formally sworn in at the White House on Sunday but he repeated the oath again at his largely symbolic public inauguration on Monday.

Gunmen seized a Nigerian-owned, Panama-flagged tanker with 16 Nigerian crew off Ivory Coast's port of Abidjan as it prepared to unload 5,000 tons of fuel. Attacks on shipping are increasing in the Gulf of Guinea - second only to the waters around Somalia for piracy.

A total of 37 foreign workers died in a hostage crisis at an Algerian desert gas plant and seven are still missing, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said. Sellal said that a Canadian had coordinated the attack by Islamists on the site near the Libyan border.

Tuesday

Gareth Morgan has a simple dream: a New Zealand free of pet cats that threaten native birds. Morgan called on his countrymen to make their current cat their last. He set up a website, called Cats To Go, depicting a tiny kitten with red devil's horns. The opening line: "That little ball of fluff you own is a natural born killer."

Hundreds of Chinese factory workers angry about strictly timed bathroom breaks and fines for starting work late held their Japanese and Chinese managers hostage for a day and a half before police broke up the strike.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory in Israel's parliamentary election, shrugging off surprise losses to centre-left challengers.

Wednesday

The imprisoned members of the Pussy Riot feminist punk band say they feel no regrets about the irreverent "punk prayer" against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral that landed them behind bars for two years.

After spending 12 hours trapped at the bottom of a well, a baby elephant was rescued near Ranchi, India. The forestry service responded and used a bulldozer to build a ramp. The elephant, estimated to be between 9 and 10 months old, was later returned to the nearby jungle.

Former Thai magazine editor was jailed for 10 years for insulting the royal family under the country's draconian lese-majeste law, a sentence that drew condemnation from international rights groups and the European Union.

Collected from a variety of

sources by Gazette Staff