The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“On Jan. 1, the country is at a fork in the road, but it can still be saved from further major escalation of violence.”

Hilde Johnson, the United Nations representative in South Sudan, as negotiators came together for peace talks in a bid to stop ethnic violence in the country Article, this page

Pope urges acceptance in New Year talk

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, laying out his hopes Wednesday for the just-begun year, urged people to work for a world where everyone accepts each other’s differences and where enemies recognize that they are brothers.

“We are all children of one heavenly father. We belong to the same human family and we share a common destiny,” Francis said, speaking from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, jammed with tens of thousands of faithful, tourists and Romans.

“This brings a responsibility for each to work so that the world becomes a community of brothers who respect each other, accept each other in one’s diversity and take care of one another,” the pope said.

Setting aside his prepared text for a moment, he expressed impatience with violence in the world. “What is happening in the heart of man? What is happening in the heart of humanity?” Francis asked. “It’s time to stop.”

Earlier, during his homily at New Year’s Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis spoke of humanity’s journey in the year unfolding and invoked what he said were “words of blessing,” explaining that they are “strength, courage and hope.

“Not an illusory hope,” he added, “based on frail human promises, or a naive hope which presumes that the future will be better simply because it is the future.”

Bombings in Somali capital kill 6, hurt 8

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Two car bombs exploded Wednesday night outside a hotel in Somalia’s capital that often is used by foreigners and government officials, killing at least six people and wounding eight, police said.

The explosions occurred one day after al-Qaida-linked Islamic rebels had warned Mogadishu to brace for an attack.

Gen. Abdihakim Saed, Somalia’s police chief, told a local radio station two men who appeared to be suicide bombers also died during the attack when they tried to force their way into the Jazeera Hotel as the cars exploded, and security forces shot and killed them.

Police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said that shortly after the first explosion occurred outside the heavily guarded hotel near Mogadishu’s international airport, civilians and hotel guards rushed to the scene. At that point, he said, the second car bomb exploded, causing most of the casualties.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Former Israeli chief’s health worsening

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s condition has deteriorated after eight years in a coma triggered by a stroke, his former spokesman said Wednesday.

Sharon, 85, is being treated by doctors at Sheba Hospital outside Tel Aviv, said former aide Raanan Gissen in a telephone interview, declining to give more details. Israel Radio reported he is being treated for kidney failure.

Sharon had served four years as prime minister when he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2006. Among Israel’s most controversial generals, Sharon became defense minister and was forced to resign after a government commission assigned him indirect blame for the massacre of Palestinian refugees by Israeli-allied Lebanese Christians in 1982.

After becoming prime minister, Sharon was hailed internationally as a peacemaker when he evacuated thousands of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and handed the territory to the Palestinian Authority.

U.S. fights release of Afghan prisoners

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. officials are seeking to block a move by an Afghan panel to free 88 detainees from a prison north of Kabul who the Americans say would pose a security threat if released.

The spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Col.

Dave Lapan, said the Afghan panel “exceeded its mandate” in ordering the release of 650 detainees from Parwan Detention Facility earlier this week.

Already, 562 of the prisoners have been freed while the 88 the United States is concerned about remain behind bars.

Lapan said on Wednesday that the 88 “are legitimate threats for whom there is strong evidence supporting prosecution or further investigation.”

The U.S. turned over control of the Parwan facility, located near the U.S.-run Bagram military base north of Kabul, to Afghan authorities last March.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 01/02/2014

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