Senate snub as US Congress opens
The new US Congress opens amid a row over the man chosen to fill Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.
Israeli envoy to Caracas expelled
The Israeli ambassador to Caracas and several other staff are ordered to leave Venezuela in protest over violence in Gaza.
Blackwater guards plead innocence
Five employees of US security firm Blackwater plead not guilty in a US court to the manslaughter of 17 Iraqis in 2007.
