Baghdad (CNN) -- An Iraqi investigative committee issued an arrest warrant Monday for Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, who is accused of orchestrating bombing attacks. - The committee of five judges issued the warrant under Article 4 of the country's anti-terrorism law. The Interior Ministry, at a news conference, showed what it called confession videos from people identified as security guards for al-Hashimi, the country's Sunni vice president. In the videos, the men described various occasions in which they purportedly carried out attacks under direct orders from al-Hashimi. One man said he carried out assassination attempts using roadside bombs and guns with silencers. He said the orders came from the vice president and at times through the director of his office. CNN could not immediately confirm that the men in the videos were bodyguards for al-Hashimi. Three of the vice president's security guards were detained earlier this month.

CBS News: Arrest warrant for Iraq V.P. on terror charge

North Korea's 69-year-old leader Kim Jong Il has died in the capital Pyongyang, the country's state television has announced. - The veteran leader passed away on Saturday while he was visiting an area outside the capital, the report said. Kim, according to the official account, died of a "severe myocardial infarction along with a heart attack." He experienced another stroke back in 2008 but appeared relatively energetic during his recent trips to China and Russia. It is believed his third son, Kim Jong-Un, will take over the leadership position in the country. "All party members, military men and the public should faithfully follow the leadership of comrade Kim Jong-Un and protect and further strengthen the unified front of the party, military and the public," the state-run television said. Kim was at the center of a dispute with the US on Pyongyang's nuclear program.

The Telegraph: Kim Jong-il: Dear Leader's death raises fears for stability of region
Russia Today: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies - Video
Global Post: VIDEO: North Koreans publicly mourn leader Kim Jong Il's death
Russia Today: Kim Jong-il dead: Grief & mass hysteria in North Korea - Video

550 Palestinian prisoners were freed on Sunday, in the second stage of a deal between the Zionist entity and the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. - The majority of the freed prisoners returned to the West Bank, ruled by Fatah movement. The second stage of the deal included 41 prisoners returned to Gaza, two to east al-Quds (Jerusalem) two to Jordan and the remainder to the occupied West Bank. Sunday’s release completes the Egyptian-brokered deal to exchange a total of 1,027 prisoners for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas fighters in June 2006. Shalit returned home on October 18 when Israel freed the first batch of 477 prisoners. Unlike the first stage, the second stage did not include anyone "with blood on their hands". The October operation included hundreds of prisoners serving life for killing Zionists.

Move 'Punishes Palestinians' for Being Recognized by UNESCO. - It was two months ago but Israeli efforts to “punish” the Palestinians for receiving recognition from the UNESCO continue today with an announcement by the Housing Ministry for 1,028 new homes in West Bank settlements. The move was announced as part of a larger collection of construction approvals throughout Israel, but included homes in occupied south Jerusalem as well as the West Bank settlements of Betal Illit and Givat Ze’ev. Construction is to start within a year. The announcement is just the latest in a number of massive expansions of the settlements by the far-right coalition government in Israel since the expiration of a partial building freeze in September of 2010.

The bodies of 11 more people have been recovered after Russia’s Kolskaya oil rig capsized in the Sea of Okhotsk on December 18, a spokesman for rescuers at the scene said on Monday. - The Kolskaya drilling rig was being towed in a severe storm when it overturned and sank some 200 km (125 miles) off Russia's Sakhalin Island early on Sunday. Of the 67 people onboard, 14 have been rescued and 37 more are listed as missing. The death toll now stands at 16 people. The families of each of those who perished in the tragedy will receive at least 3 million rubles ($93,640) in compensation, said Yuri Melekhov, director of Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka, the company that owns the rig. “We will render financial support to the families of those who died and those who were rescued," Melekhov said. The families of the deceased will each receive 3 million rubles, he said. "Perhaps that amount will be increased,” Melekhov said.

The attack by Egypt's army against the Occupy Cabinet protest has left 9 dead and 340 injured; military seizes area surrounding cabinet headquarters and Tahrir Square. - Health ministry reports nine deaths and around 344 injuries since the bebinning of military attack on protesters sitting in at Cabinet headquarters in Cairo in the early hours of Friday morning. Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri, recently appointed by Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is addressing the nation in response to the violence. He defends that no one can tell how the violence actually erupted. Clashes between army soldiers and Cabinet protesters wound down Saturday morning as the army forcefully dispersed the roughly three-week-long sit-in at the Cabinet headquarters.

Christian Science Monitor: Egypt clashes kill 10, undermine Army narrative of democratic transition

Johannes Stern: Egyptian military cracks down on peaceful protesters - Over the weekend, the US-backed military junta in Egypt launched another deadly crackdown on peaceful protesters, killing at least nine and wounding hundreds. The brutal assault on protesters comes amidst ongoing parliamentary elections, highlighting again the fraudulent character of the elections and the entire “democratic transition” being carried out under the junta’s control.

Disaster agencies Monday rushed to deliver body bags, food, water, and medicine to crowded evacuation centers in the southern Philippines as officials considered digging mass graves for hundreds killed in weekend flash floods.

The national disaster agency said 533 died and 309 remain missing, while the local Red Cross put the toll at 652 killed and more than 800 missing. Casualties from the flashfloods exceeded the more than 450 people killed in 2009 when a tropical storm dumped heavy rains on the main Luzon island, inundating nearly the entire capital Manila. Typhoon Washi slammed ashore in the Mindanao region of the Philippines while residents slept at the weekend, sending torrents of water and mud through riverside villages and sweeping houses out to sea. In the aftermath, radio stations and local governments have been deluged by calls and appeals from survivors asking for help to bury the dead or find missing relatives.

AWIP: Philippines flood toll rises past 200 400 450 900

David Cameron will come under pressure today to resist demands to contribute more than £25 billion to a new eurozone bail-out. - European finance ministers will aim to agree a new €200 billion (£167.7 billion) loan to the International Monetary Fund as part of a deal to save the single currency. Three quarters of the money is expected to come from eurozone members, but Britain will also be asked to provide funds. Figures suggest European Union officials expect British taxpayers to be the second largest contributor. The Prime Minister has repeatedly promised not to provide any extra funding for the IMF for the specific purpose of saving the euro and Britain is already liable for £12 billion of loans and guarantees to Ireland, Greece and Portugal. Earlier this month, EU countries set today as the deadline to raise up to €200  billion in new loans for the IMF to deal with the eurozone crisis. Finance ministers will hold a conference call in an attempt to reach agreement on the war chest.

Claims of Accuracy in Strikes Don't Stand Up to Scrutiny: The NATO air war against Libya, which officials are still crowing about as a “flawless” sort of victory, is coming under renewed scrutiny this weekend after the New York Times investigation into claims of civilian casualties confirmed at least 40 deaths of civilians attributed to NATO air strikes. - The 40 figure is the bare minimum, of course, and all that the cursory examination was able to confirm. The paper reports that the figure could be “perhaps more than 70″ when all is said and done. NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen only last month praised the war, bragging that there were no “confirmed civilian casualties.” The reason there was no confirmation, it seems, is that NATO didn’t really look. And indeed, civilian casualties are particularly damaging in this case, because the war was conducted under a UN Mandate to “protect civilians.”

New York Times: In Strikes on Libya by NATO, an Unspoken Civilian Toll

A video showing a demonstration and a sit-in Sirte, with people shouting their anger against the CNT. Since the fall of Sirte, the inhabitants are isolated in a town completely destroyed by NATO bombing and artillery of the 'rebels’ of Misrata and Benghazi.

The son of Libya’s top general, Khalifa Hiftar, has been kidnapped and is being held by a militia at Tripoli International Airport, the general said today. - Belgassim Hiftar, 30, was kidnapped as he drove to visit his brother Saddam, who was in a Tripoli hospital after being wounded by gunfire yesterday, said his father. “My son is kidnapped, he is being held at the airport,” the general said, speaking to reporters in his fortified compound in southern Tripoli. “We have been making phone calls with them this evening, I don’t know what they want.” The alleged kidnapping comes on the eve of a visit to Libya by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who said in Turkey today that the U.S. must give Libya more time to gain control of its militias.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was arrested on Thursday in a new criminal case related to her activities at United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) for an indefinite period, her attorney Serhiy Vlasenko said at a news conference on Friday. A Kiev district court placed Tymoshenko under arrest on Thursday as part of a criminal case dealing with her activity at UESU. "Yesterday I deliberately misled journalists, saying Tymoshenko was placed under arrest for two months. Actually, it is not true. I deliberately misinformed them because I did not have the text of the court's judgment at the time. Tymoshenko has been arrested for an indefinite term," Vlasenko said. He read out the court order on Tymoshenko's arrest, which did not specify the term of the arrest. "Tymoshenko has been arrested forever," Vlasenko said.