From Washington,this is VOA News.

Officials in Thailand say one person was killed and three wounded early Saturday when at least one unidentified gunman fired into a group of anti-government protesters in the capital, Bangkok.

Some witnesses say the shots came from a passing car, firing into a group of protesters camped overnight near Government House. Police have not identified the attackers.

China's official news agency says the national legislature has voted to abolish the country's controversial re-education through labor camps and ease its decades-old one-child policy.

The Xinhua news agency reported Saturday that the moves by the rubber-stamp standing committee of the National People's Congress formalized decisions made in November by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

U.S. officials say four military personnel who had been detained in Libya have been released. The circumstances under which the four were detained Friday remains unclear.

Earlier Friday State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington was seeking to further ascertain the facts and ensure their release.

South Sudan's government has agreed to a ceasefire in an effort to end violence stemming from a political power struggle.

VOA's Gabe Joselow reports.

A spokesman for South Sudan's foreign ministry told VOA Friday the government's ceasefire will begin immediately.

Violence erupted in the capital Juba on December 15 and has spread across the country as a power struggle has intensified between President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar, his main political rival.

The fighting has divided the military against itself in some areas, and has raised inter-ethnic tensions.

Arik says Machar will have three days to respond to the ceasefire call.

He also said government soldiers have taken control of Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State, after days of fierce battles and will be ready to defend themselves if attacked. 

Gabe Joselow VOA News,NAIROBI.

Former Lebanese finance minister Mohamad Chatah, a harsh critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been killed in a massive car bombing in central Beirut.

Five other people were killed and about 70 wounded in Friday's blast, which comes after a series of sectarian bombings aimed at Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims in Lebanon over the past year.

VOA correspondent Margaret Besheer, who is in Beirut, said many observers saw the 62-year-old Chatah as an unlikely assassination target.

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The United States' top diplomat is expressing renewed concern at the Egyptian military-backed government's expanded crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Police rounded up dozens of Brotherhood members Thursday after the government declared the group a terrorist organization and announced stiff new restrictions on those who support it.

Turkish riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters from central Istanbul Friday.

Protesters gathered in several Turkish cities, including the capital Ankara, to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government has been linked to illicit money transfers. Some protesters in Istanbul were arrested.

A U.S. federal judge has ruled that the National Security Agency's telephone surveillance program is legal and useful in fighting terrorism..

District Judge William Pauley said in a written statement Friday that the bulk collection of telephone records is a "counter-punch" to terrorism that does not violate Americans' privacy rights.

U.S. officials say four military personnel who had been detained in Libya have been released. The circumstances under which the four were detained Friday remains unclear.

An icebreaker sent to rescue a Russian ship trapped in the Antarctic has itself been stopped by ice.

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