Russia renews its support for Syria

Russia remained firm Wednesday in its pledge to veto any U.N. Security Council resolution that could open the door for international military intervention in Syria, as fighting raged anew in the troubled Middle East nation. With diplomats attempting to craft a compromise, Moscow also continues to oppose any U.N. move that calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down or would slap new economic penalties or an arms embargo on Damascus.

Inspection called 'good trip' • A senior U.N. nuclear inspector spoke of a "good trip" to Tehran and the agency said his team will return to Iran's capital in late February, indicating progress on attempts to investigate suspicions that Iran is secretly working on nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency's announcement of a renewed mission to Tehran Feb. 21 came just hours after the return of a senior team.

Americans killed in Mexico • A missionary couple from Texas were slain in their home outside the violence-plagued northern industrial city of Monterey, the U.S. Embassy and their family said. The embassy identified the couple as John and Wanda Casias.

10 sentenced in Indonesia • An Indonesian court sentenced 10 Islamist militants to between five and eight years in prison for their roles in last year's suicide bombing at a police mosque. The April 2011 attack inside a police compound in the West Java city of Cirebon killed the bomber and wounded 30 people, most of whom were police officers.

Cuban imports of U.S. goods fall • Cuba says imports from the United States fell sharply in 2010 while commerce with key ally Venezuela rose sharply. The figures are the latest available from the National Statistics Office. It says Cuba imported $410 million from the U.S. in 2010, most in food products. That's down from $645 million the previous year and about $1 billion in 2008. Meanwhile, trade with Venezuela topped $6 billion in 2010, nearly double the amount of the year before.

Greek deal near • Greece and the IMF said that negotiations for landmark debt deals will be concluded in a "matter of days," raising hopes that the country will dodge a disastrous default in the spring. Greece is locked in two sets of talks — one with private creditors to have them take losses on their bondholdings and the other with its international bailout rescuers to receive new loans.

Al-Qaida claims responsibility • An al-Qaida front group in Iraq claimed responsibility for a bloody attack on a government compound in the Islamist militants' former stronghold west of Baghdad last month and vowed more attacks on the Shiite-led government as it tries to make up with its Sunni-backed members.

4 plead guilty in Britain • Four British men pleaded guilty to planning a bomb attack on the London Stock Exchange as part of an al-Qaida-inspired plot to cause fear and wreak economic havoc. The plotters took their inspiration from Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical U.S.-born Muslim cleric who preached militant jihad and who was killed in Yemen last year in an airstrike by an American military drone.

6 freed in Yemen • Yemen's electricity minister said he has secured the release of six United Nations workers who were kidnapped by armed tribesmen. Armed tribesmen from the al-Mahweet province kidnapped the six on Tuesday, hoping to use them as bargaining chips with the government to get jailed tribe members out of prison. They were an Iraqi woman, a Palestinian woman, a Colombian man, a German man and two Yemeni men.

Oil leaks from cruise ship • A thin film of oil spread from the Costa Concordia cruise ship as waves battered the wreckage off Italy's coast Wednesday, adding to fears of an environmental disaster in the area's sensitive, pristine waters. Authorities were trying to assess how serious and extensive the spread was but said that so far it didn't appear alarming.

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