World

OTTAWA,  (Reuters) – The top aide to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper abruptly resigned today over his role in an mounting expenses scandal which is threatening to undermine the Conservative government.

(Reuters) – A single winning ticket for a record U.S. Powerball lottery jackpot worth $590.5 million was sold in Florida, organizers said late on Saturday, but there was no immediate word about who won or where in the state the ticket was bought.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s main opposition bloc said on Saturday that a Muslim Brotherhood-backed bill to regulate human rights groups and other private organisations was an attempt to stifle their work.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Authorities in Ivory Coast yesterday arrested a militia leader accused of participating in one of the worst massacres committed during the West African nation’s post-election violence in 2011, a military official and witness said.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s parliament failed to pass a law yesterday banning violence against women, a severe blow to progress made in women’s rights in the conservative Muslim country since the Islamist Taliban was toppled over a decade ago.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google staged four discussions expounding on the finer points of its “Glass” wearable computer during this week’s developer conference.

SEOUL,  (Reuters) – North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast today, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said, prompting Western powers to urge Pyongyang to exercise restraint.

BOGOTA, (Reuters) – The Organization of American States yesterday published a report calling for decriminalization of drug use and for greater coordination between nations in tackling the scourge.

BUENOS AIRES,  (Reuters) – Jorge Rafael Videla, an austere former army commander who led Argentina during the bloodiest period of a “dirty war” dictatorship and was unrepentant about kidnappings and murders ordered by the state, died yesteriday at age 87.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria,  (Reuters) – Nigerian warplanes struck militant camps in the northeast yesterday in a major push against an Islamist insurgency, drawing a sharp warning from the United States to respect human rights and not harm civilians.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf yesterday defended her government’s record on good governance and transparency, following an independent audit that cast doubt on her anti-corruption efforts.

FREETOWN,  (Reuters) – China Kingho Energy Group, one of China’s largest privately-owned energy companies, could spend between $6 and $10 billion on infrastructure projects in Sierra Leone over the next five years, its ambassador to China said.

FREETOWN,  (Reuters) – China Kingho Energy Group, one of China’s largest privately-owned energy companies, could spend between $6 and $10 billion on infrastructure projects in Sierra Leone over the next five years, its ambassador to China said.

BAQUBA, Iraq,  (Reuters) – Two bombs exploded outside a Sunni Muslim mosque in the Iraqi city of Baquba as worshippers left Friday prayers, killing at least 43 people in one of the deadliest attacks in a month-long surge in sectarian violence.

LAGOS,  (Reuters) – Nigerian forces used jets and attack helicopters to bombard Islamist militant camps in the northeast on Friday, killing a number of insurgents, the defence headquarters spokesman said.

GRANBURY, Texas, (Reuters) – Six people were dead and seven missing after a powerful tornado ripped through a north Texas neighborhood that included housing for the poor, in the deadliest severe storm outbreak in the United States this year.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The percentage of global investment that goes to developing countries should triple in the next two decades as emerging economies catch up to richer nations and become more integrated into financial markets, the World Bank predicted in a report yesterday.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – A Mexican general took over all police and military operations in a chaotic western state yesterday in a test run of President Enrique Pena Nieto’s new security strategy to tame raging drug violence.

(Reuters) – Fifteen men of Palestinian origin have been arrested on charges of running a multi-million-dollar cigarette smuggling ring in New York, and New York authorities who announced the arrests on Thursday said several of the suspects have ties to Hamas and other Islamist militant groups.

MIAMI,  (Reuters) – A shipment of gold with a declared value of $625,000 has gone missing in a suspected heist at Miami International Airport, authorities said today.