
Russia invites North Korea leader for May visit: paper
TOKYO  - Russia has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to attend a May  ceremony marking the end of World War Two, in what would be Kim's first  foreign visit since taking the helm of the reclusive state in 2011,  Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily said on Wednesday.  
Syria moves to ensure Iranian oil supplies do not falter
BEIRUT/DUBAI  - The Syrian government took steps on Tuesday to ensure oil imports  from major ally Iran will continue to meet its needs as winter  approaches, sending a high-level delegation to Tehran for talks with  Iranian officials including President Hassan Rouhani.  
US judge says Obama immigration action invalid
U.S.  District Judge Arthur Schwab says Obama's order in November designed to  spare millions living illegally in the United States from deportation  amounts to "unilateral legislative action" in violation of the  Constitution. Schwab issued his opinion Tuesday in a criminal case  involving an immigrant here illegally from Honduras.  
More than 100 children among the dead in Taliban attack on Pakistan school
At  least 126 people, including more than 100 children, were killed Tuesday  when Taliban gunmen stormed a school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar,  taking hundreds of students hostage in the bloodiest insurgent attack  in the country in years.  
66 journalists killed in past year as attacks grow more barbaric: report
Paris  - Attacks on journalists have grown more barbaric and kidnappings have  soared, Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday, after a year when  violence against the media took centre stage and 66 reporters were  killed.  
Palestinians to push UN vote despite US veto warning
Ramallah  (Palestinian Territories)- The Palestinians will press ahead Wednesday  with a UN bid to boost their hopes of statehood, despite a warning that  the US will block the move, officials said.  
The Assad Regime Is Facing Its Most Severe Crisis In Years
After  three years of grueling warfare against armed opposition fighters, the  Syrian regime faces a dire internal crisis not witnessed since the  initial months of the conflict. Despite reinforcement from tens of  thousands of foreign volunteers, Lebanese Hezbollah militants, and  pro-government militias, regime forces have proven unable to decisively  overcome rebel brigades on the battlefield.  
Judge declares Obama immigration action unconstitutional
WASHINGTON  - President Barack Obama's new plan to ease the threat of deportation  for 4.7 million undocumented immigrants violates the U.S. Constitution, a  federal judge found on Tuesday, handing down the first legal ruling  against the plan. The ruling has no immediate impact, with the government saying there was  no reason for Judge Arthur Schwab of the Western District of  Pennsylvania to address the issue in the case, which concerns  42-year-old Honduran immigrant Elionardo Juarez-Escobar.