World Briefs

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference was beaten and had bruises around his eyes and other parts of his face, a judge said Friday.

Judge Dhia al-Kinani, the magistrate investigating the incident, said the court has opened a probe into the alleged beating of journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi during the news conference.

Al-Zeidi was wrestled to the ground after throwing his shoes at Bush Sunday as he stood beside Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the news conference in Baghdad, and there have been conflicting claims about his condition since then.

HARARE, Zimbabwe – President Robert Mugabe said Friday that "Zimbabwe is mine" and vowed never to surrender, saying no African nation is brave enough to topple him.

Mugabe, who has led the country since its 1980 independence from Britain, has faced renewed criticism — most recently from the top U.S. envoy for Africa — amid a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 1,000 people since August.

"I will never, never sell my country. I will never, never, never surrender," Mugabe told members of his ZANU-PF party at its annual convention. "Zimbabwe is mine, I am a Zimbabwean, Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe never for the British. Britain for the British."

LONDON - Oil ticked up on Friday, recovering from an early sell-off as hopes of declining production by the world's major oil exporters outweighed fears of global economic slowdown and its impact on oil demand.U.S. light crude for February rose $0.16 a barrel to $41.83 at 1559 GMT. The contract for January delivery, which was due to expire later on Friday, fell to $33.44, its lowest since April 2004, before recovering a little to $34.90 by 10:59 a.m. EST. London Brent crude was trading $0.20 up at $43.56.

Oil dropped this week despite pledges by OPEC to remove 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from its supply.

MOSCOW – A senior Russian diplomat harshly criticized the U.S. stance in arms control talks Friday, saying it could further erode mutual trust and undermine global stability.

The United States and Russia have begun talks on a successor deal to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty which expires in December 2009, but a cold spell in Russia-U.S. relations has stymied talks.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russian and U.S. negotiators have failed to agree on the basic approach as to which weapons should be counted under the new deal.