International news: Woman who hired hitmen to murder husband executed

The first woman executed in the United States in five years was put to death in Virginia today for arranging the killings of her husband and a stepson over a $250,000 insurance payment.

Teresa Lewis, 41, died by injection at 1.13am today, authorities said.

She became the first woman executed in Virginia in nearly a century.

Supporters and relatives of the victims watched her execution at Greensville Correctional Centre in Jarratt.

The execution stirred an unusual amount of attention because of her gender, claims she lacked the intelligence to mastermind the killings and the post-conviction emergence of evidence that one of the killers manipulated her.

Lewis enticed two men through sex, cash and a promised cut in an insurance policy to shoot her husband, Julian Clifton Lewis Jr, and his son, Charles, as they slept in October 2002.

Both killers were sentenced to life in prison and one committed suicide in 2006.

Rallies ahead of Venezuela vote

Opponents and supporters of President Hugo Chavez held their final rallies ahead of elections on Sunday that both camps view as a critical test.

Venezuelans will elect 165 members of the National Assembly, which has been almost entirely since 2005.

Rapist given 14,400 years

A PHILIPPINE court has sentenced a man to 14,400 years in prison after he was convicted of the near daily rape of his teenage daughter over the course of a year.

A court originally condemned the man to die but the Court of Appeals commuted the sentence to 40 years for each of 360 counts of rape.

Woman beats bear with veg

A US woman fended off a bear trying to muscle its way into her home by pelting the animal with a large piece of courgette from her garden.

The Montana woman suffered minor scratches after tussling with the 200lb bear.

The attack happened just after midnight when the woman let her dogs into the back yard. The dogs disturbed the bear, which turned on them before attacking the woman. It eventually fled after she threw the vegetable at it.

Entertainer Fisher dies at 82

Entertainer Eddie Fisher, whose singing career was overshadowed by scandals of his marriages to Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, has died. He was 82.

He died on Wednesday night of complications from hip surgery.

Sudan vote on independence 'on schedule'

Kenya's president says he has received assurances from Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and south Sudan's leader Salva Kiir that a crucial referendum on southern independence will take place on schedule in January.

President Mwai Kibaki told the UN General Assembly that al-Bashir and Kiir also reaffirmed their commitment to resolve all outstanding issues and accept the outcome of the vote.