Coalition

WASHINGTON - Nearly 100 medical procedures, tests and therapies are overused and often unnecessary, a coalition of leading medical societies says in a new report aimed at improving healthcare and controlling runaway costs. The medical interventions - including early caesarean deliveries, CT scans for head injuries in children and annual Pap tests for middle-aged women - may be necessary in some cases, the physician groups said. But often they are not beneficial and may even cause harm.

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an agreement Tuesday night to bring his onetime political foe Tzipi Livni, head of the centrist Movement Party, into his pending coalition government. Livni, a former foreign minister who ran against Netanyahu in 2009 and served as opposition leader for much of the last four years, will become justice minister under the plan, both leaders announced during a joint appearance. Her party will also lead the Environmental Protection Ministry.

JERUSALEM - A new odd couple in Israeli politics has become the biggest obstacle to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's effort to form the next government. The surprise alliance between Yair Lapid, 49, the rising star of Tel Aviv's secular elite, and Naftali Bennett, 40, the yarmulke-wearing head of a religious-nationalist party, has added an unexpected wrinkle to coalition talks. Nearly a month after the election, Netanyahu has yet to announce a single partner, with a mid-March deadline looming.

BEIRUT - A minibus explosion at a crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border killed more than a dozen people Monday, and some activists said its target might have been one of the leading figures in the Syrian opposition. The blast struck the Turkish side of the border minutes after George Sabra, vice president of the Syrian National Coalition, passed through, several opposition activists said. Sabra was returning to Turkey after a trip to the city of Aleppo, in nearby Idlib province, said opposition activist Ahmad Aasi.

Outside groups are mounting campaigns to influence the outcome of three races for seats on the Los Angeles Board of Education. The Coalition for School Reform has raised more than $1.5 million, mostly from a small group of wealthy donors who helped fund past campaigns. The coalition is conducting an independent campaign in support of its preferred candidates for three open board seats in the March 5 election. Separate independent campaigns are being paid for by the teachers union, unions representing other district employees and the L.A. County Federation of Labor.

A coalition of lesbian and gay Vietnamese groups was told to "sacrifice" and not march in Westminster's annual Tet parade, a Lunar New Year event expected to draw as many as 10,000 spectators to Little Saigon this weekend, a spokesperson for the coalition said. The Tet parade, scheduled for Sunday, is a tradition dating back nearly three decades. Westminster officials played a key role in staging and funding the most recent events, and the LGBT coalition has marched in the parade the last three years -- over the objections of some religious leaders in Orange County's Vietnamese community.

A coalition of Vietnamese gay and lesbian groups is fearful it won't be allowed to participate in the nation's only Tet parade, held each year on the Lunar New Year in bustling Little Saigon. The colorful procession, scheduled for Feb. 10, draws about 10,000 people and dates back nearly three decades. It typically attracts political and civic leaders in Orange County's Vietnamese community. For three years, LGBT groups have marched in the Westminster parade, but this year organizers said they first wanted to meet with the group.

Trying to build coalitions that will deliver victory, Los Angeles' mayoral candidates are feverishly crisscrossing the city, reaching out to diverse groups of voters in their homes, houses of worship and meeting places. Councilman Eric Garcetti spent Sunday visiting African American churches, encouraging volunteer precinct walkers in a Latino enclave in Wilmington and meeting with Northeast L.A. community leaders at a Mexican restaurant in Mount Washington. "I believe no part of this city should be forgotten," Garcetti told dozens of volunteers in Wilmington.

JERUSALEM - As Israelis head to the polls Tuesday, most are expecting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party to secure the right to form the nation's next government. But while a third Netanyahu term appears likely, there's still some suspense about which political parties will join his coalition to create a majority in Israel's 120-member Knesset. The composition of that government will play a major role in determining Israel's stance on issues such as Palestinian statehood, relations with the U.S. and how to deal with Iran's nuclear development program.

JOHANNESBURG - Opposition forces in the Central African Republic who took control of a large swath of the country in recent weeks have succeeded in forcing President Francois Bozize's government to share power, officials said Friday. In a deal averting a battle for control of Bangui, the capital, Bozize and the opposition agreed to a coalition government during peace talks in Libreville, the Gabon capital. Chad's foreign minister, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who attended the talks, released a statement announcing the peace agreement.