World

ABUJA, (Reuters) – A morning rush hour bomb killed at least 71 people at a Nigerian bus station on the outskirts of the capital today, raising concerns about the spread of an Islamist insurgency after the deadliest ever attack on Abuja.

KIEV/UNITED NATIONS,  (Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session last night to discuss the escalating crisis in Ukraine, just hours before a deadline by Kiev for pro-Russian separatists to disarm by this morning or face a “full-scale anti-terrorist operation” by its armed forces.

(Reuters) – Glencore Xstrata Plc has sold its interest in the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru to a Chinese consortium in a $5.85 billion cash deal, making it one of China’s biggest mining acquisitions in recent years.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – At least 36 people were killed and four injured yesterday when a bus crashed into the back of a truck in eastern Mexico and caught fire, the government of the state of Veracruz said.

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas,  (Reuters) – Three people, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed yesterday at two different Jewish community facilities in a Kansas City-area suburb, and a man was in custody as police investigated whether the shootings were anti-Semitic, authorities said.

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas,  (Reuters) – Three people were killed in shootings at Jewish centres in Kansas today, and a suspect was in custody, police and local media said.

KIEV, (Reuters) – Ukraine’s authorities plan to launch a “full-scale anti-terrorist operation” involving the army against pro-Russian separatist militants, the acting president said today.

KIEV/SLAVIANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – Armed separatists took control of a city in eastern Ukraine yesterday and Kiev prepared troops to tackle what it called an “act of aggression by Russia”, pushing the conflict between the neighbours into a dangerous new phase.

PERTH (Reuters) – The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner resumed yesterday, five weeks after the plane disappeared from radar screens, amid fears that batteries powering signals from the black box recorder on board may have died.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran yesterday rejected a US decision to deny a visa for its newly appointed ambassador to the United Nations, pledging to take up the case directly with the world body in a dispute that has reopened old wounds dating to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

VIENNA (Reuters) – The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra will return to a French family a valuable painting that was looted by the Nazis and given to the orchestra as a gift in 1940 by a Viennese secret police official.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis made his first public plea for forgiveness yesterday for the “evil” committed by priests who molested children, using some of his strongest words yet on the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States said yesterday it would not grant a visa to Iran’s proposed UN ambassador, citing the envoy’s links to the 1979-1981 hostage crisis, in a rare step that raises questions about how much influence the White House can wield over the world body.

KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to ease European fears of gas supply cuts yesterday after Brussels said it would stand with the new authorities in Kiev if the Kremlin carries out a threat to turn off the tap to Ukraine.

ABERDEEN, Scotland (Reuters) – Scotland’s leader Alex Salmond will today urge Scots to put aside party politics in the vote on independence, as he tries to win support from Labour rivals for his bid to leave the United Kingdom.

PERTH/SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Search and rescue officials in Australia are confident they know the approximate position of the black box recorders from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Friday.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations warned yesterday that Burundi leaders who have manipulated young people to stoke violence could face international prosecution if human rights abuses are committed.

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin warned yesterday that Russian gas supplies to Europe could be disrupted if Moscow cuts the flow to Ukraine over unpaid bills, drawing a US accusation that it is using energy “as a tool of coercion”.

(Reuters) – A woman threw a shoe at Hillary Clinton yesterday as the former secretary of state was delivering a speech at a Las Vegas hotel, but Clinton dodged it and continued with her remarks, a US Secret Service spokesman said.

MURRYSVILLE, Pa (Reuters) – Pennsylvania officials sought a motive yesterday for what may have driven a 16-year-old student to turn on his classmates with two kitchen knives, stabbing startled victims in the stomach and back and leaving nearly two dozen wounded.