RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's king has appointed former intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz as second deputy prime minister, the state news agency reported on Friday. Historically, the holder of this post was considered third in line to rule the world's top oil exporter. (Reporting By Angus McDowall, Writing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Editing by Janet Lawrence)

SEOUL (Reuters) - International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge is confident Pyeongchang will host a successful Winter Olympics in 2018 despite fears that preparations could suffer as the South Korean town battles mounting debts. "We are extremely happy not only by the progress of the work but by the fact that existing facilities are being fully utilized," the IOC chief told reporters on Friday at the end of a two-day inspection of the Olympic site. ...

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's human rights situation remains poor and will likely deteriorate even further with the departure of NATO-led forces from the country next year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its annual global report on Thursday. Increasing international fatigue over the 11-year war has led to reduced pressure on the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to limit the role of warlords, corrupt politicians, and other human rights abusers, the report said. "The future of human rights protections in Afghanistan are in grave doubt," HRW Asia director Brad Adams said. ...

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande will fly to Mali on Friday night to meet the West African country's interim president in the capital Bamako the next day, France's Liberation newspaper reported. Quoting unnamed sources, it said Hollande also planned to visit the fabled desert city of Timbuktu, which French and Malian forces seized back from Islamist rebels who had held the northern part of the former French colony since last year. No comment from his office was immediately available. (Reporting by Mark John; editing by Leigh Thomas)

EL MEZON, Mexico (Reuters) - Wielding machetes and rusty shotguns, a motley crew in face masks escorts dozens of captives onto a basketball court to face a public "trial" for suspected ties to criminal gangs. This is Wild West justice, Mexican-style. Outraged at relentless extortion, kidnapping and theft as a wave of drug-related violence washes over Mexico, farmers, shopkeepers and other residents in the mountainous southern state of Guerrero are taking the law into their own hands as "community police. ...

BAMAKO/DAKAR (Reuters) - The French or African troops who hunt down the Islamist fighters holed up in the mountains and deserts of northeast Mali may find a resilient enemy capable of fighting back with a concealed arsenal of surprising firepower. France's initial success in its three-week old intervention in its former colony has gained Paris plaudits at home and abroad as a welcome blow struck against radical jihadists threatening Africa and the West. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans face a delicate balancing act as they embrace an unprecedented shift in their views on immigration reform — and no one better exemplifies the potential risks and rewards than Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bruised and battered, Chuck Hagel emerged from his grueling confirmation hearing with solid Democratic support for his nomination to be President Barack Obama's next defense secretary and relentless opposition from Republicans who repeatedly challenged their former GOP colleague.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Google has presented detailed proposals to allay anti-competitive concerns about its business practices, the EU antitrust regulator said on Friday, in a move which brings the company a step closer to resolving a two-year investigation. The European Commission has been investigating the world's most popular search engine following complaints from more than a dozen companies, including Microsoft, that Google has used its market power to block rivals. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is struggling to confront an uptick in threats from the world's newest jihadist hot spot with limited intelligence and few partners to help as the Obama administration weighs how to keep Islamic extremists in North Africa from jeopardizing national security without launching war.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Military secrets are not readily divulged anywhere. But in Israel the blanket silence that envelops officials after an event like Wednesday's mysterious air strike on Syria reflects a deeper strategy involving both deterrence and outreach. Beyond customary concern to safeguard spies and tactics for a government currently engaged in a graver confrontation with Iran, Israelis see such reticence as allowing their foes to save face and thus reduce the risk of reprisal and escalation. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is leaving office with a slap at critics of the Obama administration's handling of the September attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya. She told The Associated Press that critics of the administration's handling of the attack don't live in an "evidence-based world" and their refusal to "accept the facts" is unfortunate and regrettable for the political system.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is leaving office with a slap at critics of the Obama administration's handling of the September attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya. She says they don't live in an "evidenced-based world" and that their refusal to accept the administration's statements is regrettable.