News In Brief

French hostages freed in Niger
Reuters, Niamey

Four Frenchmen held hostage in the Sahara desert by al-Qaeda-linked gunmen for three years left Niger on a French government plane yesterday, with questions raised in France over whether a ransom had been paid.
The men's release could benefit President Francois Hollande politically a day after a poll showed he had become the most unpopular French president on record, dogged by repeated rows over taxes, immigration and unemployment.

Egypt detains key Brotherhood leader
Afp, Cairo

Egyptian authorities yesterday detained senior Muslim Brotherhood figure Essam al-Erian, one of the last few leaders of the Islamist movement to have escaped a security crackdown, the interior ministry said.
Security forces arrested Erian, deputy leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, in the early hours of Wednesday at an apartment in east Cairo where he had been in hiding. The Islamist leader faces charges of inciting violence on several occasions.

Oman detects first MERS infection
Afp, Muscat

Oman has discovered the first case of the MERS coronavirus in the Gulf sultanate, Health Minister Ahmed al-Saeedi said yesterday.
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has so far claimed 62 lives worldwide, with most of the deaths occurring in Saudi Arabia, according to the World Health Organisation. The WHO said last week there was a total of 144 confirmed cases of the respiratory disease worldwide.

"> Mourners gather after a train rammed into a public service bus in Nairobi, yesterday. The accident happened at a crossing point killing at least 12 passengers in the bus. Photo: AFP Kenya train collides with bus: 12 killed
Afp, Nairobi

Twelve people were killed and several others injured yesterday when a passenger train in Kenya's capital smashed into a bus at a crossing, police said.
The train crashed into the side of the bus as it crossed the railway line during the peak hours of morning rush hour, local police commander Benjamin Nyamae said. The accident, in Nairobi's Eastlands district, took place as the roads were crowded with passengers rushing to get to work.

US curbs financing to overseas coal projects
Afp, Washington

The United States said Tuesday it would end most financing of coal projects overseas, taking a potentially significant step to curbing carbon emissions blamed for climate change.
The decision puts into action one of President Barack Obama's pledges when he announced a new climate initiative in June. The effort comes amid forecasts that the world must do far more to achieve a UN-supported goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

UN warns over millions of teenage mothers
Afp, London

Around 7.3 million girls under the age of 18 give birth each year in developing countries, risking death and suffering that can only be addressed by changing social attitudes, a UN report said yesterday.
Most are in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with one in 10 girls in Bangladesh, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique and Niger reporting having a child before the age of 15, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said.