Evening Edition

The violence has hampered attempts by regional and international mediators to clinch a power transfer deal between political rivals, with the opposition saying it will not negotiate “while blood is flowing in Sanaa.”

Fighting between dissident military troops and those loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh broke out at dawn after a brief lull overnight and raged into the morning, leaving seven people dead, medics and witnesses said.

In a brutal assault, gunmen ordered pilgrims off their bus, lined them up and assassinated them in a hail of gunfire in Mastung, a district 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Quetta, the capital of the southwest Baluchistan province.

An hour after the first attack, unidentified gunmen killed another three Shiites on the outskirts of Quetta whom police said were relatives of victims of the first incident en route to collect their bodies.

The attacker had been invited into Rabbani’s Kabul home with an accomplice because they were thought to be emissaries bringing “special messages” from the Taliban.

The bomb was detonated as the attacker hugged Rabbani — head of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council established last year by President Hamid Karzai — in greeting.

With the new Libyan flag flying at the UN headquarters, interim government leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil thanked all nations who aided with the “success of the Libyan revolution” which he revealed had left at least 25,000 dead.

US President Barack Obama hailed a “new chapter” for Libya as the victorious rebels’ red, black and green flag was hoisted at the United Nations ahead of the annual General Assembly.

But he also pledged NATO would carry out air strikes as long as civilians there are “threatened” and urged Kadhafi supporters still fighting to lay down their arms.

With the new Libyan flag flying at the UN headquarters, interim government leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil thanked all nations who contributed to the “success of the Libyan revolution” which he revealed had left at least 25,000 dead.

The seven defendants — six scientists and one government official — are accused of manslaughter in a case that some see as an unfair indictment of science.

Prosecutors say residents around the city of L’Aquila in the mountainous Abruzzo region should have been warned to flee their homes in the days before the quake.

James Soong, a former heavyweight in Ma’s Kuomintang (KMT) party, announced his intention to run at a Taipei press conference, adding a new element of uncertainty to the tight race between Ma and opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen.

“I am willing to fight bravely for Taiwan’s people and seek new hopes for Taiwan’s future,” said Soong, the 69-year-old chairman of the People First Party (PFP), whose announcement had been anticipated.

More than 500 residents living near a plant making solar panels protested for three days last week in the eastern city of Haining, forcing authorities to temporarily shut the factory, which belongs to the US-listed Jinko Solar.

The incident came just over a month after authorities in the northeastern city of Dalian agreed to relocate a chemical plant following similar protests, underscoring official concern over mounting public anger about pollution.

The IMF lowered its growth forecasts for the global economy to 4.0 percent for 2011 and 2012, saying activity had “weakened significantly,” but warned of a return to recession if Western leaders fail to get their economies back on track.

“The evidence points to continued, uneven growth,” the IMF said in a twice-yearly outlook report.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would seek to attach so-called Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which expired in 2007, to a wider measure giving duty-free access to US markets for developing world goods.

“With 14 million Americans out of work and thousands of Americans looking for opportunities to sell American-made goods around the world, we can’t afford to wait,” said McConnell.

Davis, who is black, was convicted 20 years ago of the fatal 1989 shooting of 27-year-old white police officer Mark MacPhail, a married father of a two-year-old girl and an infant boy.

MacPhail had been working nights as a security guard when he intervened in a brawl in a Burger King parking lot in Savannah, Georgia and was shot in the heart and the head at point-blank range.

Full Tilt “defrauded players by misrepresenting that their funds on deposit in online gambling accounts were safe, secure, and available for withdrawal at any time,” the US Attorney’s office for Southern Manhattan said.

“In reality, Full Tilt Poker did not maintain funds sufficient to repay all players, and in addition, the company used player funds to pay board members and other owners more than $440 million since April 2007.”

The chaos comes to a head this week after Texas A&M’s departure from the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference and Pittsburgh and Syracuse announcing they were leaving the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State in the south-central United States could join schools along the Pacific coast in a mega-conference while northeastern US schools seek membership in the southern-oriented ACC.

Squeezed awkwardly between the more prestigious New York and Milan fashion shows, London always has to fight for attention.

But this year the innovative use of digital technology has given London a boost — a feel-good factor only spoiled by the revelation that the final shows have been hit after heavyweight brand Gucci ordered its models to fly to Italy.