­Parts of Russian interplanetary probe Phobos-Grunt, currently stuck in orbit, are expected to fall to Earth on January 15. That is the view of Col. Aleksey Zolotukhin of the space division of Russia’s Defense Ministry. However, the exact timing and location of the fall may be altered by external factors, he added. Previous announcements suggested that the spacecraft, which failed to fulfil its mission to Mars, will fall in Afghanistan.

­50 college students have taken over five radio stations in southern Mexico to demand the resignation of Guerrero state's governor, Angel Aguirre. Guerrero state spokesman Arturo Martinez said the unarmed, masked students burst into the stations on Tuesday and broadcast a message that lasted 40 minutes. They also demanded an investigation into the killings of two of their fellow students during a December 12 protest. They denied any responsibility for the death of a petrol station attendant who suffered severe burns after shutting off pumps set alight during the protest.
Laura Haydon

­Almost 16,000 Belgians suffering from gambling addiction have made a formal request to be barred from casinos and slot machine parlors in their home country, the Gaming Commission reports.  The Commission has also noted an increase in citizens suffering from a pathological addiction to gambling who have volunteered to be cut off from casinos altogether. In 2011, some 13,000 gamers filed such a request. In Belgium, in January 2011, a law came into force which can close off access to casinos for a gambling addict at the request of a family member or doctor. However, so far this type of ban is only valid for a dozen people who have reported to the Commission.

­Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has won the Iowa caucus by eight votes, putting him ahead in the race for a presidential nomination by the Republican party. Romney narrowly edged out former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Romney got 30,015 votes to Santorum’s 30,007 – a margin of just eight votes. According to early results, social conservative Rick Santorum, anti-war advocate Ron Paul, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney were the front-runners in Iowa's Republican presidential caucus.

­A New York City man has been arrested on a hate crime charge on Tuesday after confessing to a string of arson attacks at an Islamic cultural center and four other sites on New Year’s Day, AP reports. The charges against Ray Lazier Lengend include one count of arson as a hate crime, four counts of arson and five counts of criminal possession of a weapon. He made statements implicating himself in the attacks and had personal grievances with each targeted location,an NYPD spokesperson said. Crude firebombs were tossed into a convenience store, two homes in Queens, a home in nearby Nassau County and the Islamic curlutral center. No one was hurt.

­Anna Malova, the winner of a 1998 Russian beauty pageant, accused of forgery and the illegal purchase of prescription drugs in the US, has been granted a final chance to complete a drug addiction rehabilitation program, after being released from jail by a New York court decision. In mid-December, the 39-year old Malova had locked up following accusations that she hit a fellow patient at a Bronx drug rehab facility. The retired beauty queen is half way through a year-long, court-ordered rehabilitation program. If she completes it, a New York court will drop charges of theft, forgery, and the illegal purchase of prescription drugs.

­Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are leading in the Iowa caucuses race with around 22% of ballots counted, according to AP’s estimates. Newt Gingrich has 13%, Rick Perry just under 10%, and Michele Bachmann nearly 6%. The caucuses in precincts across Iowa on January 3 launch the GOP nomination process. The economy and the federal budget deficit are top issues for caucus attendees, with few citing abortion or health care as their most important concerns.

­A large truck collided with a coach in China's south-central Zhongfang County in Hunan Province on Tuesday morning, leaving 13 dead and injuring 41, nine of them in a serious condition. The truck broke through a guardrail and crashed into the coach driving on the opposite side of the Shanghai-Kunming expressway, according to local authorities. The exact number of people on board the coach and the truck is not yet known, though an investigation is underway.

­President Sebastian Pinera has announced the Torres del Paine National Park, in Chile's Magallanes region near the Argentine border, will be partly opened for tourists, RIA Novosti reports. That is despite wildfires that continued to spread through the central and southern areas of the park on Tuesday. Pinera said that a major part of Torres del Paine will continue normal operations from 8.00 local time Wednesday. He also said that four of the six fire spots are now under control, promising the park's complete reopening in several weeks. However, some local media claim that opening the area at this time would be premature due to the blazes. Firefighters from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay have been able to control some of the fires, but some 37,000 hectares of the park have already been lost to the flames. The Torres del Paine is one of Chile’s main attractions, drawing around 150 thousand tourists every year.

­A stray cat named Andrea has survived two attempts to put her down at a Utah shelter after nobody adopted her, AP reports. In October, West Valley City shelter staff put her in a gas chamber in the first euthanasia attempt, but the cat survived and had to be gassed again. Presumed dead, the animal was put into a cooler in a plastic bag only to be found alive once more. Shelter personnel were unable to explain why the gassing failed, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Andrea has since been adopted, while her story inspired shelter volunteers to try and change their euthanasia procedure to lethal injection. They are set to push for the new rule at a city council meeting on Tuesday night.

­The Irina, a distressed Russian transport cruiser, is currently drifting towards the Pacific island of Shikotan with a flooded engine room and a punctured hull, according to a local harbor service. The ship is in an area of the North Pacific currently being swept by a cyclone, the report notes, and sustained a hole in its hull Tuesday night somewhere near the island of Kunashir. There are 19 people and 500 tons of frozen fish on board the refrigerated cargo vessel, which is registered in Russia’s Far East city of Vladivostok. The crew members are reported to have the necessary life-saving equipment. The Irina issued its distress signal while 13 miles off Kunashir. Another transport ship, the Tatarstan, came to the rescue, but that operation is now being obstructed by the storm. A Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Emergencies Ministry is undergoing preparations in Khabarovsk for a flight to the distress area.