While ties between China and Taiwan may be closer than at any time since they split in a civil war, the staid, form al Communist Party congress being held in Beijing highlights how far apart the two sides are politically. Myanmar train crash fire kills 25 people, injures 62
YANGON (Reuters) – A train in Myanmar carrying petrol derailed and burst into flames, killing 25 people and injuring 62, most of them villagers trying to collect fuel spilled in the accident, state television said. MRTV said The fire started after three cars loaded with petrol turned over near a village in Kanbalu township, near the Indian border, just over 500 km (300 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city. Residents of Chekgyi village were gathered around the accident site trying to collect spilled petrol when they were trapped in the fire. …
Egypt Muslim Sisters rise with conservative vision
The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt has brought with it a new group of female politicians who say they are determined to bring more women into leadership roles -- and at the same time want to consecrate a deeply conservative Islamic vision for women in Egypt.
27 inmates killed in Sri Lanka prison shootout
A shootout between rioting prisoners and security forces at a prison in Sri Lanka's capital killed at least 27 inmates, while police said Saturday that they arrested five prisoners who had managed to escape and were searching for others. 
COLOMBO (Reuters) – At least 27 people were killed and a senior police officer seriously wounded in a gunfight in Sri Lanka's biggest prison that began when police came under fire from inmates, officials and police said on Saturday. The army brought the violence under control before dawn and freed staff held hostage at the Welikada prison in the capital Colombo, jail officials and military said. Twenty seven people have been confirmed dead, prisons minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera told parliament. … 
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia's track cycling queen Anna Meares will bid for more Olympic glory at the 2016 Rio Games. The 29-year-old Meares, who captured a long-coveted Olympic sprint title at London, said she would target a fourth Games after a lengthy sabbatical. "I would like to continue on for the next Olympic campaign," Meares said after collecting Australia's top cycling award on Friday. "But you won't see me until next year because I will be taking a nice break. … 
SAN CRISTOBAL CUCHO, Guatemala (Reuters) – Ivan Vasquez cried as he hunched over the 10 wooden caskets of his parents, six siblings and two cousins who were struck down in a rock quarry collapse caused by this week's powerful earthquake. Vasquez was studying to take an accounting exam when the 7.4-magnitude quake struck on Wednesday, killing his entire immediate family as they dug in the quarry for material to reinforce the walls of their adobe home. … 
TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of the world's biggest pension funds and global dealmakers, said it was looking for big, complex acquisitions to boost its portfolio and outmaneuver rivals as the wo rld's economy improves. CPPIB, whose assets rose to a record C$170.1 billion in the third quarter from C$165.8 billion three months earlier, said its long-term investment horizon and increasingly skilled team of dealmakers will give it an advantage as improving U.S. and Chinese economies bring competitors back to the playing field. … 
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ally Financial Inc is nearing a deal to sell its auto financing operations in Europe and Latin America for around $4 billion, with General Motors Co emerging as the lead bidder if the company decides to sell those operations as a whole, two sources familiar with the situation said. Ally is still considering whether to split the business geographically – Europe and Latin America – and sell it to two different parties, the sources said on Friday. A deal could come as soon as next week, they said. … 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon on Friday said it had approved the potential sale of 25 C-130J transport and refueling planes built by Lockheed M artin Corp to Saudi Arabia for up to $6.7 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress about the possible sale on Thursday, according to a posting on the agency's website. Lawmakers have 30 days to block the sale although such action is rare since sales are carefully vetted before being publicly announced. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – A child rape victim apologized on Friday to an ally of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher who had been falsely identified on the Internet as his abuser, after days of furious speculation of a high-level pedophile ring in Britain. Steven Mes sham, who had told a flagship BBC show last week he was abused as a child in social care by a leading political figure in the late 1970s, said former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Alistair McAlpine was not among his attackers. … 
(Reuters) – Former Citigroup Inc CEO Vikram Pandit, who resigned last month under pressure from company directors, and former chief ope rating officer John Havens will receive more than $15 million each, the company said on Friday. The sums were disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Gary Hill) 
Mexican prosecutors charged 14 federal police officers Friday with trying to kill two CIA agents and a Mexican navy captain in an August ambush south of the capital. 
Researchers have finally found a long-sought colony of emperor penguins in eastern Antarctica, but they say it's been split in two due to a glacier break. Moreover, a tally of the 6,000 chicks among these two populations suggests there are more emperor penguin parents in this part of the frozen cont inent than previously thought. 
As many as 11,000 people fled Syria in 24 hours, some of them desperately clambering through a razor-wire fence into Turkey on Friday to escape fierce fighting between rebels and government forces for control of a border town. 
BERLIN (Reuters) – German lawmakers expressed alarm on Friday at the state of human rights in Russia since Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin in May and urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to press Moscow on its treatment of critic s when she visits next week. A parliamentary motion, written by Merkel's center-right coalition parties, asks the German government to campaign for greater democracy and rule of law in Russia, as well as seeking just treatment for anti-Putin campaigners such as jailed members of the punk group Pussy Riot. … 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Newly re-elected President Barack O bama offered on Friday to deal with Republicans to avert a looming U.S. fiscal calamity but insisted a tax increase for the very rich must be part of the bargain. Obama reminded Republicans that his approach to avoiding steep tax hikes and spending cuts due in January, which could trigger another recession, had just won the backing of Americans at the polls. … 
MILAN (Reuters) – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is still giving thousands of euros a month to aspiring showgirls who attended his colorful parties, a Milan court heard on Friday. Weakened by a sex scandal and graft and tax fraud allegations, Berlusconi, 76, was forced to resign a year ago as Italy came close to a Greek-style debt crisis. But the center-right leader, who recently announced he would not run as candidate for prime minister in next year's election, denies the charges and says there were no sex parties at his villa near Milan, just normal dinners. … 
MANAMA (Reuters) – Police in Bahrain fired teargas and blocked roads on Friday to stop thousands of Shi'ite Muslims jo ining prayers led by one of their spiritual leaders, witnesses said, amid deepening tensions in the Gulf Arab kingdom and U.S. ally. The island country hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet and has been volatile since majority Shi'ite Muslims began protesting last year against what they said was widespread discrimination, a charge the Sunni-led government denies. … 
LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria is "at war" with Islamist sect Boko Haram and should not negotiate with its leaders who are "mass murde rers", Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka said on Friday. President Goodluck Jonathan said earlier this year his government was open to dialogue with the sect, whose insurgency has killed an estimated 2,800 people since 2009. The sect is styled on the Afghan Taliban and while it usually targets security and government officials, it has also struck churches, mosques and universities, becoming the biggest security threat in Africa's top oil producer. … 
ACCRA (Reuters) – The owner of a shopping mall which collapsed in the Ghanaian capital apologized on Friday for the loss of lives but denied accusation s he had not obtained authorization for the building. At least nine people died when the mall, operated by Indian retailer Melcom Ltd, caved in shortly after opening for business on Wednesday. Some 70 survivors have been rescued and sent to nearby hospitals. … 
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Thirteen people were killed and a senior police officer was seriously wounded in a gunfight in Sr i Lanka's biggest prison that began when police came under fire from inmates, officials and police said on Saturday. The army was called in to help control the violence that continued overnight, and some staff at the Welikada prison in the capital Colombo were being held hostage by inmates, jail officials said. Witnesses said they saw police shooting towards the jail, where armed prisoners were on the roof. Prisons Commissioner P. W. … 
In his victory speech, President Barack Obama acknowledged millions of voters' frustration when he said that it was time to fix the long lines at voting stations that have become an Election Day blight in America. 
NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cyprus launched a last-ditch bid with potential lenders on Friday to get financial aid needed before coffers in the tiny euro zone economy start running dry. Battered by its exposure to debt-crippled Greece, Cyprus sought a full bailout from the EU and the IMF in June to buffer its banks and plug widening deficits after attempts to secure a credit line from Russia failed. The government has said it could have difficulties paying salaries in December. It is currently heavily reliant on short-term financing from domestic banks. … 
Off a road guarded by three police checkpoints, Bahraini lawyer Taimoor Karimi wonders about his future in a country that no longer considers him a citizen. 
The moon will blot out the sun next week in the only total solar eclipse of the year, providing a rare skywatching treat for parts of th e Southern Hemisphere. 
President Bashar Assad has rarely deviated from his statements on the crisis in Syria since it began nearly 20 months ago. Here is a look at his latest remarks, in an interview shown Friday by broadcaster Russia Today: 
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A security guard at Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's residence was killed by a bullet fired from his own gun on Friday in what police said was being investigated as a suicide or accidental shooting. The prime minister was not at home at the time. "We can confirm that a security guard was found dead from a gunshot wound from, as far as we can ascertain, his own service weapon," Stockholm police spokesman Sven-Erik Olsson said. Police immediately ringed the Stockholm residence. … 
Dozens of Moroccan and foreign activists demonstrated Friday in front of a Rabat courthouse where a Guinean advocate for sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco is being tried in what the demonstrators called part of a wider crackdown. 
Ireland's leaders issued last-minute appeals Friday for voters to amend the constitution to include stronger rights for children, making it easier for state agencies to protect children from abuse and for neglected kids to be adopted. 
The first of 19 defendants being tried for participating in a massive rally against President Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin that turned violent pleaded guilty on Friday and was sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison. 
The worst of Europe's financial crisis appears to be over. 
French President Francois Hollande's attempt to sign a note congratulating Barack Obama for getting re-elected wound up lost in translation -- and all over Twitter.