WORLD IN BRIEF

Mudslides claim 109 in southern Brazil; 19 missing

Rescue workers have pulled nine more bodies from beneath mud and rubble in Brazil’s flood-ravaged southern state of Santa Catarina, bringing the death toll to 109, the state civil defense department said Saturday. Most of the victims were killed in mudslides; 19 still were missing. At least 78,000 people in 14 cities have been driven from their homes, with many taking shelter in churches, schools, gymnasiums and other public buildings.

8 killed by gunmen in city’s drug war

Gunmen shot and killed eight people Friday in a violence-plagued northern Mexico border city that is a target of the government’s war against drug gangs, police said. A dozen hitmen opened fire at people dining together at a restaurant in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas. The army is battling drug cartels that are also fighting each other over smuggling routes into the United States. The government admitted it has made little progress.

Sudan hails Obama as a favorite son

Sudanese politicians claimed Barack Obama as one of their own Saturday, celebrating his election as U.S. president and hailing his family roots in their country. The U.S. president-elect’s father came from the Luo tribe, who are from the Nile and originally moved from Sudan to Kenya, said a senior member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, former southern rebels who are now in a coalition government with the north.

Pilgrims heading to Mecca kept in Gaza

Palestinian pilgrims bound for Mecca were prevented from leaving the Gaza Strip via Egypt on Saturday as the enclave’s Hamas Islamist rulers and the rival leadership in the West Bank traded blame for the hold-up. The pilgrims, hoping to reach Saudi Arabia next week for the annual haj pilgrimage, told Reuters that Hamas police set up checkpoints 300 yards from the Rafah border post with Egypt and turned them away. Hamas security also barred journalists from the border area.

Rocket strike in Baghdad kills 2

A rocket slammed into a compound near the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone on Saturday, killing two people in an attack that seemed likely to reflect the anger of Shiite militias over a new U.S.-Iraqi security pact. Late Friday, a rocket hit Camp Victory, the main U.S. military compound in Baghdad, the military announced. Both rocket strikes bore the hallmarks of Shiite militia attacks, and the one that targeted the Green Zone was the first reported there in more than a month.

Religious leaders unsure about pact

Influential religious leaders across Iraq voiced reservations today about a U.S.-Iraq security agreement that allows Americans to remain in the country for another three years. Their comments filtered in as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of multinational forces in Iraq, to plan for the treaty’s implementation. The pact, which cleared Iraq’s parliament Thursday and sets a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, entails major changes in authority between U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Stoning death sentence upheld

Iran’s Supreme Court upheld a stoning death sentence for a woman convicted of adultery in the southern city of Shiraz, an independent newspaper reported Saturday. The paper also reported that the court upheld another death sentence, this one by hanging, against the woman, who was also convicted of killing her husband with the help of a male accomplice. The man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he was convicted of being an accomplice and was sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery. He was not given the death penalty because he was married.

3 to be hanged for mosque bombing

Iran’s Revolutionary Court has convicted three men of involvement in a bombing inside a packed mosque that killed 14 people in April and sentenced them to be hanged publicly near the scene of the attack. The court said Saturday it also found the three men guilty of having links to the United States with orders to destabilize Iran through a campaign of bombings and assassinations.