World

ADEN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Saudi national freed by US authorities from detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who then became second-in-command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, was killed in Yemen, a Yemeni government website said.

DUBAI/OTTAWA – Canada’s surprise decision to sever relations with Iran may well have been triggered by Ottawa’s fear of retaliation for stepping up its denunciations of Tehran and a parallel move to list Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela has dropped weapons charges against the American captain of a US-flagged cargo ship arrested last week after three rifles were found on board, people familiar with the latest diplomatic rumpus between Washington and Caracas said.

(Reuters) – Young men who had smoked marijuana recreationally were twice as likely to be diagnosed with testicular cancer than men who have never used marijuana, according to a US study.

(Reuters) – People who drink heavily – at least four drinks a day – may be at risk of suffering a brain hemorrhage at a relatively early age, according to a French study.

BAGHDAD,  (Reuters) – Car bombs tore through mainly Shi’ite Baghdad districts yesterday after Iraq’s fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was sentenced to death, as more than 100 people were killed across the country in one of the bloodiest days this year.

AMMAN,  (Reuters) – Two bombs exploded simultaneously yesterday next to Syrian army compounds in the northern city of Aleppo, killing and wounding scores of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, residents and opposition activists said.

JERUSALEM,  (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cancellation of a security cabinet session on Iran following a media leak last week laid bare a conundrum long troubling Israeli strategists: could they count on any element of surprise in a war on their arch-foe?

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – P. Chidambaram has a simple message for investors disillusioned by India’s policy drift: it is no longer ‘business as usual’ in the corridors of North Block, the sandstone colonial building that houses the finance ministry in New Delhi.

TORONTO, (Reuters) – Cult novel “Cloud Atlas” was once considered unfilmable.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The North American box office hit a slump at the weekend, with top earner “The Possession” taking in less than $10 million and what could be the gloomiest overall haul since the aftermath of the Sept.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – A bible which once belonged to Elvis Presley and contains his handwritten notes and thoughts has sold for 59,000 pounds ($94,600) at an auction in England, the auction house said.

WASHINGTON  (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, picking up support following the Democratic National Convention, widened his narrow lead over Republican U.S.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A rare tornado struck New York City yesterday, blowing out the windows of at least one building, and a separate twister hit the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, as a line of fierce thunderstorms swept the region, knocking out power to thousands of homes.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt and Israel are coordinating on Cairo’s biggest security sweep in decades against militants in Sinai, in which 32 people have been killed, an army spokesman said yesterday, the first clear statement on communication between the neighbours.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s government withdrew plans for a compulsory Chinese school curriculum yesterday after tens of thousands took to the streets in protest at what they said was a move to “brainwash” students.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., (Reuters) – President Barack Obama asked Americans on Thursday for patience in rebuilding the weak economy as he appealed for a new term in office and defiantly rejected Republican Mitt Romney’s proposals for growth as heartless.

CHEVALINE, France,  (Reuters) – Police investigating a gruesome family murder in the French Alps are looking at several theories, including that the British man shot dead in his car with his wife and another woman was involved in a financial feud with his brother.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States said yesterday it is designating the Pakistan-based Haqqani network a terrorist organization, triggering sanctions against a group American officials blame for high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, and which they say has ties to the Pakistani state.

BEIJING, (Reuters) – China’s president-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, has said the ruling Communist Party must embrace reform with fresh vigour to stave off social and economic malaise, sources said, citing accounts of comments he made at a meeting with a party reformer.