World

GUATEMALA CITY,  (Reuters) – Guatemala’s  Constitutional Court yesterday ratified the extradition of  former President Alfonso Portillo to the United States, where  he faces money laundering charges.

ABUJA,  (Reuters) – A car bomb ripped through the  United Nations’ headquarters in the Nigerian capital of Abuja yesterday, killing at least 18 people, in an attack reminiscent of  a June blast claimed by a local radical Islamist group.

SANTIAGO,  (Reuters) – A Chilean teenager died early  yesterday a day after being shot following massive protests in  the capital against President Sebastian Pinera, police said,  the first fatality in months of social unrest.

ALGIERS,  (Reuters) – Two suicide bombers hit a  military barracks in Algeria yesterday, killing 18 people in one  of the deadliest attacks in the North African country in recent  years.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Rihanna may like to sing  about sex and she may like to wear sexy costumes on stage, but  the “S&M” singer says there is no videotape of her having sex  with rapper J.

LONDON, (Reuters) – A private detective jailed for  illegally intercepting voicemail messages on behalf of a  journalist at one of Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids on Friday  gave lawyers the names of the people he says ordered him to  carry out the phone hacking.

TRIPOLI, (Reuters) – Fugitive strongman Muammar Gaddafi taunted his Libyan enemies and their Western backers  from his hiding place as NATO targeted his hometown and rebels announced a move to govern the country from Tripoli.

MIAMI,  (Reuters) – Thirteen people have been  indicted in Miami in a crackdown on what U.S.

NASSAU, (Reuters) – The northeast U.S. seaboard,  including the capital, Washington, and financial center New  York, rushed to prepare yesterday for a possible mauling from  powerful Hurricane Irene this weekend.

TRIPOLI, (Reuters) – Libya’s new masters have offered  a million-dollar bounty for the fugitive Muammar Gaddafi, after  he urged his men to fight on in battles across parts of the  capital.

NASSAU,  (Reuters) – Powerful Hurricane Irene  battered the Bahamas yesterday on a track to the North  Carolina coast that forecasters say could threaten the densely  populated U.S.

SINGAPORE,  (Reuters) – A scheme training Filipino  women to efficiently run neighbourhood stores grabbed top prize  at an global U.N.-sponsored

CANBERRA, (Reuters) – A political scandal involving a  government MP over payments to prostitutes, which threatens  Australia’s minority government,  deepened on Wednesday when the  lawmaker’s former union asked police to investigate his union  credit card bills.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela received an enviable  honor last month: OPEC said it is sitting on the biggest  reserves of crude oil in the world — even more than Saudi  Arabia.

LIMA, (Reuters) – A strong earthquake struck a  remote Amazon region of Peru yesterday, shaking buildings  far away in the capital and in neighboring Brazil, although no  injuries or damage were reported.

HONG KONG,  (Reuters) – Injecting a bacteria into  mosquitoes can block them from transmitting the dengue virus and  help control the spread of a disease that kills 20,000 annually  in more than 100 countries, scientists said.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – One day after a magazine  claimed that their marriage was in trouble, Hollywood super  couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith appeared together in  public on Wednesday, smiling broadly for cameras and fans.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – The organizers of a  controversial Michael Jackson Tribute concert said on Tuesday  they were going ahead with the event, but they offered  disgruntled fans the chance to air their concerns in a global  conference call.

PRAGUE,  (Reuters) – British pop star George Michael  returned to the stage late on Monday for an emotional  performance at the opulent Prague State Opera where he announced  his split from long-term partner Kenny Goss.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – For Shafiq Sheikh, the irony is  tragic. Sheikh, who acted in the spoof film “Ye Hai Malegaon Ka  Superman” about an Indian super-hero who saves his town from a  tobacco-loving villain, is himself suffering from mouth cancer  caused by his incessant tobacco habit.