World datelines

Canada: Acquittal

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A Canadian man who spent 13 years in prison for the murder of a teenage girl in 1990 was acquitted Friday.

A judge acquitted Kyle Unger, 38, after prosecutors said Friday that they had no evidence against him. Unger was wrongfully convicted of beating, sexually assaulting and killing 16-year-old Brigitte Grenier at a rock concert southwest of Winnipeg.

"It's the first day of the rest of my life, a new beginning," Unger said.

Honduras: Prison riot

TEGUCIGALPA — Police say escaped inmates set fire to a prison, a public market and a cultural center in western Honduras before authorities stopped the riot and captured 76 of the 79 fugitives.

Police spokesman Orlin Cerrato says officers shot and wounded 11 of the inmates who escaped Friday from a state-run prison in Santa Barbara. Three inmates remain at large.

Japan: Airfield to stay?

TOKYO — Japan's new government appeared to bow to intensifying pressure from visiting top U.S. military officials, saying Friday it supports keeping a major U.S. Marine airfield on the southern island of Okinawa.

The government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has suggested it would like to make changes to a 2006 agreement that would realign the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan, including moving 8,000 Marines to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, visiting Tokyo earlier this week, described such a move as "politically untenable and operationally unworkable."

Kenya: Piracy patrolled

NAIROB — For the first time, sophisticated U.S. military surveillance drones capable of carrying missiles have begun patrolling waters off Somalia in hopes of stemming rising piracy.

Unmanned U.S. military surveillance planes called MQ-9 Reapers stationed on the island nation of Seychelles are being deployed to patrol the Indian Ocean in search of pirates, Vice Adm. Robert Moeller, the deputy commander for the U.S. Africa Command, said. The patrols began this week.

Puerto Rico: Guantanamo

SAN JUAN — Three human rights groups said Friday they will spurn an invitation to tour the Guantanamo Bay prison next month because it doesn't include an opportunity to speak with prisoners.

Amnesty International USA, the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch all said the recent Defense Department invitation falls short of the full access to the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba that they jointly requested in a January letter to President Barack Obama.

Israel: January elections

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president signed a decree on Friday calling for presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan. 24, a move likely to deepen the rift with the rival militant Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip.