WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hackers sympathetic to the late computer prodigy Aaron Swartz claimed on Saturday to have infiltrated the website of the U.S. Justice Department's Sentencing Commission, and said they planned to release government data. The Sentencing Commission site, www.ussc.gov , was shut down early Saturday. Identifying themselves as Anonymous, a loosely organized group of unknown provenance associated with a range of recent online actions, the hackers voiced outrage over Swartz' suicide on January 11. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says gun-control advocates have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes in the debate over firearms in America.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A senior Chinese official is under investigation, a Hong Kong newspaper reported at the weekend, in a case that could represent the first time a national political figure has been netted in China's anti-corruption drive. Li Jianguo, a member of the country's elite Politburo and the vice chairman of the national rubber-stamp legislature, has not been charged with any offence. The Hong Kong-based Ming Pao newspaper however reported that Li had checked into a Beijing military hospital due to "psychological stress" from the investigation. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says gun-control advocates have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes in the debate over firearms in America.

(Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is giving $350 million of his multibillion-dollar fortune to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, in a gift that will bring his total lifetime donations to the institution to over $1 billion, the school said on Saturday. Bloomberg's giving to the university over the years makes him its largest-ever philanthropic benefactor, the school said in a statement. ...

TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario's Liberals on Saturday chose a former Cabinet minister to become the province's first female premier and first openly gay leader of a Canadian province. In her acceptance speech as the new provincial Liberal Party leader, Kathleen Wynne, 59, a former Ontario education minister, thanked her partner, Jane, for her support during a three-month campaign. Ontario was one of the first Canadian provinces to allow same-sex marriage. Wynne's victory means Canada's four most powerful provinces will all be led by women. ...

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union are wrapping up final preparations for talks on a free-trade agreement that would encompass half the world's economic output, Europe's trade chief said on Saturday, while warning of "difficult negotiations." EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht will travel to Washington on February 5 to put the finishing touches on a joint EU-U.S. report. He gave his clearest signal yet that Brussels and Washington are ready to embark on the accord. "Essentially the report is ready. ...

PORT SAID, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, violence that compounds a political crisis facing Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said, where gunshots rang out and protesters burned tires in anger that people from their city had been blamed for the deaths of 74 people at a match last year. ...

KONNA, Mali/PARIS (Reuters) - French and Malian forces fighting Islamist rebels took control on Saturday of the rebel bastion of Gao, the biggest military success so far in an offensive against al Qaeda-allied insurgents occupying the country's north. The United States and Europe back the U.N.-mandated Mali operation as a counterstrike against the threat of Islamist jihadists using the West African state's inhospitable Sahara desert as a launching pad for international attacks. ...

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - EU leaders won a promise from Argentina and Brazil on Saturday to revive stalled talks on a free-trade deal that would be a major prize for Europe as it emerges from crisis, but disputes over key issues mean a breakthrough appears distant. At a summit in Santiago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel led the Europeans in a new push in the negotiations with the South American trade bloc Mercosur that is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay. ...

SANTIAGO/CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has overcome a respiratory infection, but is still being treated for breathing problems after cancer surgery in Cuba last month, a government minister said on Saturday. Official statements have sounded upbeat about the socialist president's condition in recent weeks, following rumors he was gravely ill in a hospital in Havana and might be unable to keep governing after being re-elected in October to a third term. ...

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The European Union and the South American bloc Mercosur will exchange offers on opening up their markets by the end of this year, the EU's trade chief said on Saturday as both sides try to unblock long-stalled free-trade negotiations. "A tremendous effort has been made to install new momentum into the discussions," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht told Reuters in an interview. De Gucht, who handles trade issues for the 27 nations of the European Union, also signaled he expected Europe and the United States to go ahead with talks on a possible free-trade accord. ...

SANTIAGO/CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has overcome a respiratory infection, but is still being treated for breathing problems after cancer surgery last month, a government minister said on Saturday. Official statements have sounded upbeat about the socialist president's condition in recent weeks following rumors he was gravely ill in a hospital in Cuba. ...

CUMMING, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said Saturday he will not seek a sixth term in 2014, a decision that eases some of the burden the national Republican Party faces in retaking the Senate.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Beef containing horse DNA that was supplied by an Irish company to major food companies like Tesco originated in Poland, Ireland's agriculture department said on Saturday. The British food industry has been rocked by the revelation retailers sold beef products that contained horse DNA, a scandal that has also left Ireland's 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) beef industry reeling from the knock-on effects. Results of tests showed that Polish ingredients used by Irish burger manufacturer Silvercrest contained 4.1 percent horse DNA, the agriculture department in a statement. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — The legal challenges over religious freedom and the birth control coverage requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul appear to be moving toward the U.S. Supreme Court.