Quake rattles northwestern Iran

(CNN) -- An earthquake in northwestern Iran on Saturday injured at least 80 people, Iranian news agencies reported.

The quake occurred in Doroud in Iran's Lorestan province.

Semi-official Fars News Agency, citing a Red Crescent Society official, said the magnitude of the quake was 4.9.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency said of the 80 hurt, 25 people remain hospitalized and 55 others were discharged from hospital care.

Buildings were damaged in Doroud and surrounding cities.

CNN

French still protesting pension reform, but in smaller numbers

Paris, France (CNN) -- Demonstrators returned to the streets across France Saturday to protest changes to the country's retirement law, but the numbers of marchers were lower than they had been in previous weeks.

Some 28,000 people protested in Paris Saturday, according to police. The demonstration in the French capital began at the Place de la Republique and ended at the Place de la Nation.

Interior ministry officials said about 375,000 people were out throughout the country Saturday -- a significantly lower number than the 560,000 people that turned out on October 28 and the 1.1 million on October 19.

More than 200 demonstrations were scheduled for Saturday, called by the same unions that called the previous strikes.

The retirement bill people are protesting has already been passed. Both the Senate and the National Assembly have approved the measure, and it is currently under review by the Constitutional Council. French media say the body will not complete its examination of the bill until December 2. President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to sign it into law some time after that.

Sarkozy has been one of the measure's strongest backers. It would raise the country's retirement age from 60 to 62, and make other changes in pension rules. Sarkozy's government has insisted the adjustments are necessary in order to save money. It has set for itself the ambitious goal of cutting the French deficit from 8 percent to 6 percent of the gross domestic product by next year.

Still, the bill has been hugely unpopular with the French public. Saturday's protest was the eighth day of national action called by unions since the beginning of September. Anti-reform strikes closed all of the country's oil refineries last month.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Finance told French broadcaster Europe 1 that the strikes cost the country 200 to 400 million euros ($280 to $560 million) per day.

CNN

UNICEF reports sexual violence in the Congo region

(CNN) -- The long-running conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed hundreds of sexual violence victims in the past two months as women and girls continue to be prime targets of retaliation between rival militias along the country's porous borders, according to aid agencies.

At least 657 cases of sexual violence involving women and girls were documented in September and October during mass expulsions from Angola to Congo, according to UNICEF.

UNICEF, which compiled the case information over the past two months with help from aid agencies on both sides of the border, said women, girls and possibly men were sexually victimized as about 6,621 Congolese nationals were expelled from Angola.

"Many cases of VS [sexual violence] are reported, including torture," according to a UNICEF document obtained by CNN on Saturday.

A UNICEF spokesman in Kinshasa, DRC, said there have been 35 confirmed rapes so far as victims undergo medical evaluations in makeshift shelters set up by international aid organizations.

The U.N. plans to send a special mission, comprised of representatives from a variety of aid agencies, to the area next week to talk to community leaders, doctors and humanitarian organizations about the allegations, the spokesman said.

The Angolan deportations of more Congolese nationals were announced in August 2001, the report said. These mass-expulsions are making civilians more vulnerable to such attacks, the spokesman said.

Relations between the DRC and Angola -- once an ally -- have been strained. More than 10,200 Congolese nationals were deported from Angola in January and February of 2010. Several incidents of human rights abuse and sexual violence were reported associated with these expulsions as well, according to the United Nations.

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Myanmar tense but calm one day before controversial elections

Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) -- The mood in some parts of Myanmar seemed tense yet calm Saturday, one day before the nation holds it's first election in 20 years -- an electoral contest critics say is aimed at creating a facade of democracy.

Riot police could be seen on some streets in the city of Yangon, the former national capital that is also known as Rangoon.

In the countryside, teams of election workers for the Union for Solidarity and Development were campaigning. The party is supported by the governing junta of mostly of ex-military members.

"These are our candidates for this region," a USD election worker told one resident. "It is not important to put down the name of the party, but the people have to know our symbol and make their mark right here".

Because many citizens in rural areas know so little about the political process, the election workers said they also had to show people how to vote.

"I am not just campaigning for our party," the election worker said. "I am educating the people on how to vote. Many people don't know how to vote".

Their word is very influential -- especially in rural areas, where most people in the nation live.

"I don't know anything about the election," one woman said. "If someone tells me what to vote, I will follow that guideline".

CNN

Pope arrives in Spain for his second visit

Barcelona, Spain (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday began his second visit to Spain, where he prayed at the tomb of an apostle and planned to consecrate one of Barcelona's most famous sights -- the distinctive Gaudi-designed Sagrada Familia church.

The pope's first stop on his two-day trip is Santiago de Compostela, in Spain's northwestern tip, an important pilgrimage site for centuries.

The cathedral there was built 900 years ago atop what is said to be the tomb of St. James, an apostle of Jesus. After praying there, the pope presided over a Eucharist in the square outside, to celebrate the city's jubilee year.

"I come as a pilgrim on this Compostelean Saint Year ... I want to join to that long line of men and women that all over the centuries had come to [Santiago de] Compostela from different places on the peninsula and Europe," the pontiff said at the airport earlier in the day.

Saturday night, the pope planned to head all the way across Spain to Barcelona, the Catalan city on the Mediterranean.

Barcelona is home to the Sagrada Familia, or "holy family," church, still being built after more than 100 years. Benedict is expected to designate the church a basilica, a special honor in Roman Catholicism.

CNN

Prosecutors charge U.S.-born cleric with additional crimes in Yemen

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- A judge in Yemen on Saturday ordered the capture of U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, prompting the deployment of more troops to seize the man and bring him to court.

A Yemeni security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told CNN that security forces sent hundreds of additional troops to the volatile Shabwa province to help in the ongoing search for al-Awlaki, now on a CIA and military hit list to be captured or killed.

Last week, security forces and local tribesmen began the hunt for al-Awlaki, regarded by the United States as a terrorist and propagandist who has become an important operational figure within al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP.

The court order, from Judge Mohsen Alwan, came during a trial of suspected militants in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. Prosecutors accused al-Awlaki and two others with "forming an armed gang" to target foreign officers and law enforcement.

Al-Awlaki and his cousin, Othman al-Awlaki, were charged along with Hisham Asim, who is accused of killing a French national last month who worked for an Austrian oil and gas company.

Earlier this week in court, the al-Awlakis were charged with inciting violence against foreigners and Asim was charged with the killing and with having ties to al Qaeda.

The al-Awlakis are at large and were charged in absentia, but Asim was present in court Saturday.

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Chinese artist says he's under house arrest

Beijing, China (CNN) -- A Chinese artist and activist said Saturday that he has been placed under house arrest for planning a demolition party to "observe" a government order to raze his studio.

Ai Weiwei said he had planned a concert and a river crab feast at the party in Shanghai on Sunday.

About 800 people were expected to attend, he said.

The term river crab is believed to make a political statement. The Mandarin word for river crab sounds like "harmonious," a word some use to describe government censorship.

Ai said he was put under house arrest until Sunday to prevent him from attending the party.

"Just recently I heard the new studio I built in Shanghai studio will be demolished all because of my activities," Ai said. "So what is my activity? My activity is very very simple, asking basic right for people to freely express themselves and also to find a new structure, a new way of communicating. Because I'm an artist this is what I do and I believe in that".

Ai said he was not allowed to leave his house, which was guarded by police.

"Please accept my deepest apologies," he tweeted to his guests in Shanghai.

Ai said he chose to "celebrate our life" since the studio was going to be razed anyway.

He has accused the Chinese government of trying to silence dissidents before.

"They crack down on everybody who has different opinions -- not even different opinions, just different attitudes," he told CNN earlier this year.

"Simply to have different opinions can cost [dissidents] their life; they can be put in jail, can be silenced, and can disappear".

The artist helped design the iconic Bird's Nest stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but later called for a boycott of the games because he believed China was using them as propaganda.

He has also held exhibits in Europe and the United States, and his work is on display at the Tate Modern gallery's Turbine Hall in London, England.

CNN

Top cartel leader killed in Mexican border city clash

(CNN) -- A top leader of the Gulf drug cartel was killed during a two-hour gun battle with Mexican security forces in the border city of Matamoros, authorities said.

Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, known as "Tony Tormenta" or "Tony the Storm," was killed in the shootout Friday, Mexican military officials said in a statement.

Cardenas, 48, was a top leader of one of Mexico's major drug-trafficking operations, and the U.S. State Department had been offering a $5-million reward for information leading to his capture.

"Today was another significant step in the destruction of criminal organizations that have done so much to damage the people of this country," said Alejandro Poire, security spokesman for the Mexican government.

Naval troops were met with grenades and assault-weapon fire when they approached Cardenas' hideout in the center of the city around 3:30 p.m. Friday (5:30 p.m. ET), the Mexican navy said.

Four other suspected members of the cartel were also killed in the operation, which ended about 5:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. ET) the Mexican navy said. Three naval officers were killed and four others were injured, authorities said.

The Gulf cartel is one of Mexico's major drug-trafficking organizations. It is based in Matamoros, which is across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

CNN

Death toll rises in Indonesia as volcano continues to rumble

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- Deaths in Indonesia mounted on Saturday from the volcanic eruption spewing scorching ash and gas, and the country's leader is stationed near the scene to coordinate relief efforts.

At least 81 people are now dead after the powerful Friday eruption at Mount Merapi, in Central Java, bringing the total number of deaths to about 120 people since the volcano began erupting October 26, hospital officials said.

Friday's flare-up is being called Merapi's largest so far, unleashing ash clouds and gas that have reached villages in areas many thought were safe from the volcano's eruptions.

Volcanic ash has also hindered air travels with delays, cancellations and altered flight paths. International airlines have canceled at least 50 flights on Saturday from the capital, Jakarta, about 280 miles away from the volcano.

CNN

Suu Kyi's son seeks Myanmar visit

Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Aung San Suu Kyi's son is trying to get a visa to meet his mother in Myanmar, the Nobel laureate's attorney said.

The son, Kim Aris, is in Bangkok and hoping to travel to visit his mother, according to attorney Nyan Win.

The last time he saw her was in 2000, when he spent about two weeks with her, the attorney said.

Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, is under house arrest in Myanmar and has spent most of the past 20 years under house arrest or in prison.

CNN

Mall fire kills 19 in China, state media says

Beijing, China (CNN) -- A shopping mall fire Friday in northeastern China killed 19 people and injured another 27, government media reported Saturday.

The fire in Jilin City took 10 hours to extinguish, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Twenty-four people remained hospitalized Saturday, none with serious injuries, Xinhua said, citing city government spokesman Liu Qizhi.

Police detained the mall's general manager for questioning, Xinhua said.

The blaze was contained mostly to the fourth floor of the five-story building, the news agency said. The fourth floor housed furniture stores. A gymnasium on the fifth floor also was damaged, Xinhua reported.

Sixty-four stores were open when the fire broke out Friday around 9:15 a.m. (9:15 p.m. ET), Xinhua said.

The lower floors of the shopping mall, which was built in 1987, are occupied by stores that sell garments and shoes.

CNN

Pope heads to Spain for his second visit

Barcelona, Spain (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday began his second visit to Spain, where he planned to pray at the tomb of an apostle and consecrate one of Barcelona's most famous sights -- the distinctive Gaudi-designed Sagrada Familia church.

The pope's first stop on his two-day trip is Santiago de Compostela, in Spain's northwestern tip, an important pilgrimage site for centuries.

The cathedral there was built 900 years ago atop what is said to be the tomb of St. James, an apostle of Jesus. After praying there, the pope planned to preside over a Eucharist in the square outside, to celebrate the city's jubilee year.

Saturday night, the pope planned to head all the way across Spain to Barcelona, the Catalan city on the Mediterranean.

Barcelona is home to the Sagrada Familia, or "holy family," church, still being built after more than 100 years. Benedict is expected to designate the church a basilica, a special honor in Roman Catholicism.

Antoni Gaudi, a Catalan architect, only lived to see one tower and most of one facade finished by the time he died in 1926.

"The interior space of the church, the sacred space of the church, is finished, and for that, the pope comes here to consecrate the church," said Jordi Fauli, the deputy architect.

Gaudi planned the church to have 18 towers -- 12 for the apostles and the tallest for Jesus. Only eight are finished.

Fauli said the privately-financed work may be done by 2026, on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.

Asked once why it was taking so long to finish the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi replied, according to his assistants, "My client -- meaning God -- is not in a hurry".

CNN