Government

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made a surprise return to his homeland on Monday after a 10-week convalescence in Cuba following cancer surgery, a long absence that had raised doubts among his opponents and even some supporters about who was running the oil-rich nation. "We have arrived back in the Venezuelan fatherland," Chavez announced via Twitter after arriving in Caracas. "Thank you, my God! Thank you, my beloved people!" His arrival in Caracas in the predawn hours appeared designed to stanch rising indignation by opposition leaders critical of the secrecy surrounding Chavez's health and suspicious about claims made by high government officials that he has been involved in the day-to-day decisions of state.

Gavin Newsom is lieutenant governor of California and author of the book "Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government" I never feel so needed and loved as during the months leading up to an election: the constant e-mails, phone calls, and an overflowing mailbox. That's when politicians discover social media and engaging with citizens - for donations and help with campaigns. The minute the election is over, all that disappears, and we're back to government as usual.

CAIRO - Tunisia's ruling Islamist party rejected Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali's offer to dissolve the government Thursday, a day after the assassination of an opposition leader sent waves of anger rippling through the North African country and left the government scrambling to contain the fallout. The challenge put forward by the moderate Islamist Ennahda party has amplified the potential for a political crisis in Tunisia. Chokri Belaid, a leader of the leftist Popular Front alliance and an outspoken critic of Tunisia's government, was shot dead outside his home Wednesday, a day after he received the latest in a string of death threats and called for a national conference on political violence.

Earlier this month, we spoke with investors who are avoiding long-term U.S. Treasury bonds. Now we have come across one fund manager who is actually shorting Treasuries - basically, betting they will fall in price - and taking advantage of what he terms is the coming "bear market in government. " Michael Aronstein is president and portfolio manager of the Marketfield Fund (MFADX), a $4.4 billion mutual fund that returned just over 13 percent in 2012 and 8 percent annually since inception in 2008.

DAVOS, Switzerland - The crisis mood is gone, but that doesn't mean you can slip back into your old ways - that's the message from top international finance officials wrapping up the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. They warned governments Saturday against letting their relief over an improved economic climate turn into complacency over reforms that many want to see in order to sustain a still-uncertain recovery. "Do not relax," International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde urged at a closing panel on the economic outlook.

WASHINGTON - Union membership plummeted last year to the lowest level since the 1930s as cash-strapped state and local governments shed workers and unions had difficulty organizing new members in the private sector despite signs of an improving economy. Government figures released Wednesday showed union membership declined from 11.8 percent to 11.3 percent of the workforce, another blow to a labor movement already stretched thin by battles in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and other states to curb bargaining rights and weaken union clout.

DELHI - The judicial panel set up in the wake of national protests after the gang rape of a young woman on a bus in the Indian capital submitted its report Wednesday, castigating politicians, police, and the army for failing to protect women and children, and calling for far-reaching changes in the way the country is governed. The three-member panel was established to assuage national outrage over the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student last month, but did not bow to public pressure to propose the death penalty for rapists or to lower the age at which young offenders could be tried; the lawyer for one of the accused rapists in the New Delhi case says his client is 17. Instead, in a 200-page report, the panel slammed decades of apathy and criminal behavior in the way the country was governed and said the nationwide protests were "a call to India to change the a way in which women are treated.

NEW YORK - Pharmaceutical companies are pleased that health-care reform means more patients have insurance and will be encouraged to take their medicine to avoid costly hospitalizations. But, as Johnson & Johnson chief executive officer Alex Gorsky said Tuesday, drugmakers want private insurers or government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to pay them for those drugs at a prices closer to their choosing. "Be aware," Gorsky said, that cost-containment efforts must "ensure we continue to reward innovation," or risk not having new drugs to treat health problems.

BAGHDAD - A string of attacks, including three car bombings in and around Baghdad, killed at least 22 people Tuesday, deepening fears of a surge in violence as sectarian tensions fester in Iraq. Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, blame is likely to fall on Sunni insurgents such as al-Qaeda's local franchise for Tuesday's bloodshed. The group often uses indiscriminate attacks to sow fear among Iraq's Shiite majority and undermine the government's authority. It was at least the fourth day this year that insurgents overcame security measures to carry out high-profile attacks claiming at least 20 lives.

DIABALY, Mali - French troops in armored personnel carriers rolled through the streets of Diabaly on Monday, winning praise from residents of this besieged town after Malian forces retook control of it with French help a week after radical Islamists invaded. The Islamists also have deserted the town of Douentza, which they had held since September, according to a local official who said French and Malian forces arrived there on Monday as well. The militants' occupation of Diabaly marked their deepest encroachment into government-held territory, and Monday's retaking of the town is a significant victory for the French-led intervention.