Nearly a week from regional elections, Algerians are less interested in the public vote than an intensifying behind-the-scenes power struggle — one that is playing out through a flurry of corruption probes.

Though ostensibly a democracy, Algeria is really ruled by a powerful president and a shadowy collection of military generals and intelligence chiefs, making figuring out who has real power a constant preoccupation.

The U.S. said Friday that a proposed conference on banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East cannot be convened at this point because of current conditions in the region.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement that the U.S. will continue to work to create conditions that could result in a successful conference. But she cited political turmoil in the region and Iran's defiant stance on nonproliferation.

Politically divided Lebanese made on Saturday a show of unity during an official ceremony in Rome that allowed Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi to join the elite club of churchmen who will elect the next pope.

Pope Benedict XVI formally elevated five other prelates at the ceremony that was held at St. Peter's Basilica, bestowing red hats and gold rings on them.

Protesters calling for Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down rallied in the heart of Bangkokon Saturday, clashing with police in the first major demonstration against the government since it came to power last year.

Although the rally site itself was peaceful, protesters on a nearby street tried and failed to break through a concrete police barricade, at one point ramming a truck into it. Both demonstrators and riot police lobbed tear gas canisters at each other.

Making a killing on initial public offerings used to be easy.

At the peak of the technology boom, little more than a decade ago, a plentiful supply of companies vied to sell stock on the exchanges, and investors were assured mouthwatering returns.

Shares of Research in Motion Ltd. Jumped nearly 14 percent Friday as investors seemingly grew more optimistic about a February launch of the Canadian company's much-delayed BlackBerry 10 smartphones.

RIM will release the latest version of its smartphone "not too long" after a Jan. 30 launch event, Kristian Tear, the company's chief operating officer, has said.

Arsenal has extended its stadium naming rights deal and shirt sponsorship with Emirates airline in a deal worth 150 million pounds ($239 million).

Arsenal's ground has been known as Emirates Stadium since the team moved into the new north London base in 2006 and it will continue to carry the name until 2028.

Another person has died of a mysterious respiratory virus and three more cases have been discovered in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the World Health Organization said Friday.

"This brings the total of laboratory-confirmed cases to six," the Geneva-based U.N. agency said in a statement.

A watch which was one of Elvis Presley's last Christmas presents and a corset worn by Madonna on her 1990 "Blond Ambition" tour will be featured at a London auction.

The watch, estimated to sell for 6,000 pounds ($9,500) or more, is a diamond-set Rolex given to Presley by his longtime manager, Tom Parker. It is engraved, "Elvis merry Christmas your pal Col. Tom Parker." It was the last Christmas for Presley, who died the following year.

Organizers say American R&B star Chris Brown has canceled a stadium concert in Guyana after local protests over his 2009 beating of then-girlfriend Rihanna.

Brown was billed to headline a Dec. 26 show. But he drew the ire of women's rights groups and opposition lawmakers who said Brown would not be welcome in Guyana three years after his assault of Barbadian superstar Rihanna.