World

BAMAKO, (Reuters) – Militants from the al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine group destroyed mausoleums of Sufi saints with guns and pick-axes in the famed Mali city of Timbuktu for a second day, said witnesses yesterday, ignoring international calls to halt the attacks.

GENEVA (Reuters) – World powers agreed yesterday that a transitional government should be set up in Syria to end the conflict there but they remained at odds over what part President Bashar al-Assad might play in the process.

CAIRO (Reuters) – In a day full of memorable images, none yesterday was more powerful than that of Egypt’s first Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, flanked by generals at a military parade where he was formally handed authority to govern the nation.

BAMAKO (Reuters) – Al Qaeda-linked Mali Islamists armed with Kalashnikovs and pick-axes destroyed centuries-old mausoleums of saints in the UNESCO-listed city of Timbuktu yesterday in front of shocked locals, witnesses said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – About 3.9 million homes and businesses were without power  yesterday amid a record heat wave in the eastern United States after deadly thunderstorms downed power lines from Indiana to New Jersey.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Yitzhak Shamir, the hawkish Israeli leader who two decades ago first balked at US calls to trade occupied land for Middle East peace, died on Saturday after a long illness.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The World Bank yesterday canceled a US$1.2 billion credit for a Bangladesh bridge project with immediate effect, saying it had “credible evidence” of a high-level corruption conspiracy among Bangladeshi government officials.

By Joan Biskupic WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – In the end, it all came down to Chief Justice John Roberts, the sphinx in the center chair, who in a stunning decision wove together competing rationales to uphold President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan.

BRUSSELS – Under pressure to prevent a catastrophic break-up of their single currency, euro zone leaders agreed today to let their rescue fund inject aid directly into stricken banks from next year and intervene on bond markets to support troubled member states.

(Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department said yesterday it would not prosecute Attorney General Eric Holder for refusing to turn over to Congress documents about a gun-running scandal to Mexico.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama’s healthcare law yesterday in an election-year triumph for him and fellow Democrats who championed the most sweeping overhaul since the 1960s of the unwieldy U.S.

TORONTO, (Reuters) – Research In Motion Ltd delayed the make-or-break launch of its next-generation BlackBerry phones until next year, in a devastating setback to the once-dominant technology company whose sales are crumbling.

BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – Italy and Spain, battling searing market pressure in the euro zone’s widening debt crisis, held up agreement on measures to promote growth at a European Union summit yesterday to demand urgent action to bring down their borrowing costs.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was found in contempt of Congress yesterday as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives sanctioned the nation’s top law enforcement official for withholding some documents related to a failed gun-running probe.

CARACAS (Reuters) – A new poll shows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez only slightly ahead of challenger Henrique Capriles in the October 7 presidential election, welcome news for the opposition following numerous surveys showing Chavez with a wide lead.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Russia and other big powers have told mediator Kofi Annan that they support his idea of a Syrian national unity cabinet that could include government and opposition members but would exclude those whose participation would undermine it, envoys said yesterday.

LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia’s police ended a violent mutiny and went back to work yesterday after reaching an accord with government ministers and the police leadership on pay and disciplinary rules, satisfying lower-ranking officers who had rejected a previous deal.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Islamist President-elect Mohamed Mursi began talks yesterday with groups nervous about where he will take Egypt after the generals who have ruled since Hosni Mubarak’s fall make way for the republic’s first civilian leader.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Television host Alex Trebek was released from a Los Angeles hospital yesterday after suffering a mild heart attack this past weekend, according to a spokeswoman for his “Jeopardy!”

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s new finance minister resigned because of ill health yesterday throwing the government’s drive to soften the terms of an international bailout into confusion, days before a European summit.