Troops hit protesters in Yemen capital

Troops hit protesters in Yemen capital

SANAA, Yemen

Troops commanded by relatives of Yemen’s outgoing president attacked a crowd of more than 100,000 protesters peacefully marching into the capital Saturday, killing at least nine and driving the president to promise to leave the country. Yielding to pressure to defuse the country’s turmoil, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Saturday he would leave for the United States after forces overseen by his son and nephew opened fire on the protesters.

Anti-Putin protests draw thousands

MOSCOW

Tens of thousands of Russians jammed a Moscow avenue Saturday to demand free elections and an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s 12-year rule, in the largest show of public outrage since the protests 20 years ago that brought down the Soviet Union. Gone was the political apathy of recent years as many shouted, “We are the Power!” The demonstration, bigger and better organized than a similar one two weeks ago, and smaller rallies across the country encouraged opposition leaders hoping to sustain a protest movement ignited by a fraud-tainted parliamentary election Dec. 4.

Kim Jong Un called ‘supreme leader’

PYONGYANG, North Korea

North Korea hailed Kim Jong Il’s son as “supreme leader” of the 1.2-million strong military, ramping up its campaign to install the young man as the nation’s next leader even as the mourning for his father continued a week after his death. Kim Jong Un made a third visit Saturday to the palace where his father’s body is lying in state — this time as “supreme leader of the revolutionary armed forces” and accompanied by North Korea’s top military brass, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Child limit challenged

ZHUJI, China

Seven months pregnant, Wu Weiping sneaked out early in the morning carrying a shoulder bag with some clothes, her laptop and a knife. “It’s good for me I wasn’t caught, but it’s lucky for them, too,” said Wu, 35, who feared that family planning officials were going to drag her to the hospital for a forced abortion. “I was going to fight to the death if they found me.”

Cuba wraps up a dramatic year

HAVANA

A year at the vanguard of Cuba’s economic revival has not brought Julio Cesar Hidalgo riches. The fledgling pizzeria owner has had his good months, but the restaurant he opened with his girlfriend often runs at a loss. At times, they can’t afford to buy basic ingredients. Yet the wide-faced 31-year-old says he is grateful to be in business at all. A year ago, Hidalgo was concocting chalky pastries in a Spartan state-run bakery where employees and managers competed to pilfer eggs, flour and olive oil, the only way to make ends meet on salaries of just $15 a month. Today, he is his own boss, a taxpayer, employer and entrepreneur.

Last-minute buyers

It’s that time for caroling, eggnog, holiday cheer — and for some, a frantic dash to the mall. Last-minute shoppers hit stores on Christmas Eve in a surge that retailers hope will top off a strong holiday shopping season.

Occupy Wall Street becomes collectible

NEW YORK

Occupy Wall Street may still be working to shake the notion it represents a passing outburst of rage, but some establishment institutions already have decided the movement’s artifacts are worthy of historic preservation. More than a half-dozen major museums and organizations from the Smithsonian Institution to the New-York Historical Society have been avidly collecting materials produced by the Occupy movement.

Associated Press