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Friday, September 27, 2013 – Daily News 3B WORLD BRIEFING Islamic extremist group behind the takeover, denied any female fighters participated. Nevertheless, the timing of the Interpol notice so soon after the attack fueled speculation she was involved in some way — suspicions that were stoked earlier in the week by comments from Kenya's foreign minister that a British woman had a role in the bloodbath. In first hours of carnage at Nairobi mall, tales of survival emerged NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — It's 1:30 on Saturday afternoon in the Westgate Mall. Rafia Khan is huddling in a crawl space of the Millionaires Casino with her cousin and eight other people as gunmen roam the building and shoot, again and again, into crowds of shoppers. Now she is teaching those in hiding — perfect strangers — words that she hopes will keep them alive. The group had found the ceiling-level space as they fled gunfire and explosions. While they are hiding, word spreads by mobile phone text messages that Islamic militants have taken control of the shopping mall that houses the casino. Word also spreads that the gunmen are allowing Muslims to leave — testing them by asking about their knowledge of Islam. Khan and her cousin are the only Muslims among the small group. They decide to teach the others to recite the Shahada, the short Arabic-language creed that proclaims there is only one God and Muhammed is his prophet. Government shutdown in sight? WASHINGTON (AP) — Moving closer to the brink of a government shutdown, House Republicans vowed Thursday they won't simply accept the stopgap legislation that is likely to remain after Senate Democrats strip away a plan to dismantle President Barack Obama's health care law. The defiant posture sets the stage for weekend drama on Capitol Hill after the Senate sends the fractious House a straightforward bill to keep the government operating through Nov. 15 rather than partly closing down at midnight Monday. The Senate is likely to act Friday after Democrats use their procedural advantages to remove the House's tea partyinspired provision to ''defund Obamacare.'' Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and several rank-andfile Republicans said the House simply won't accept a ''clean'' spending measure, even though that's been the norm in Congress on dozens of occasions since the 1995-96 government closures that bruised Republicans and strengthened the hand of Democratic President Bill Clinton. ''I don't see that happening,'' Boehner said. Still, he declared that ''I have no interest in a government shutdown'' and he doesn't expect one to occur on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the Democratic-led chamber will not relent. Intelligence chief sidesteps questions Key powers reach accord on Syria weapons UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Britain's U.N. ambassador says key powers have reached agreement on a resolution to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal. Mark Lyall Grant tweeted that the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — Britain, France, the U.S., Russia and China — agreed on a ''binding and enforceable draft ... resolution.'' He says Britain will introduce the text to the 10 other members of the Security Council at a meeting Thursday night. The U.S. and Russia had been at odds on how to enforce the resolution. EU's Ashton says Iran talks 'substantial' UNITED NATIONS (AP) — EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says talks between Iran, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany were ''substantial'' and have set the stage for a new round of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program next month. Speaking after Thursday's meeting at the United Nations, Ashton told reporters all parties had agreed to ''go forward with an ambitious timeframe.'' She said senior negotiators would meet in Geneva on Oct. 15-16. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said here had been a ''big improvement in the tone and spirit'' from Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. The meeting marked the highest-level direct contact between the United States and Iran in six years as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sat next to Zarif. Interpol issues alert for 'the white widow' LONDON (AP) — The tabloids call her ''the white widow,'' a Britishborn Muslim convert who was married to one of the suicide bombers in the 2005 attack on London's transit system. And for days now, the British media have been rife with speculation she took part in the terrorist takeover at a Nairobi shopping mall. On Thursday, Interpol, acting at Kenya's request, issued an arrest notice for 29-year-old fugitive Samantha Lewthwaite — not in connection with the mall attack, but over a 2011 plot to bomb holiday resorts in Kenya. If Lewthwaite indeed embraced the jihadi cause, it would mark a chilling turnaround for the apparently grieving widow who originally condemned the London transit bombings and criticized her late husband, Jermaine Lindsay, for taking part. Officials have not made public any evidence linking her to the mall attack. The Interpol notice did not mention it. And al-Shabab, the Somali WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's top intelligence official has sidestepped questions from a senator about whether the National Security Agency has tracked the whereabouts of millions of Americans using their cellphone signals. The testy exchange Thursday between NSA chief Keith Alexander and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon intimated that such tracking had taken place. Alexander says his agency can only collect such data with an individual court order. But he did not say whether the agency had ever collected information about locations from which cellphone calls are made. Wyden is a longtime critic of NSA surveillance methods. Earlier this year, he questioned Director of National Intelligence James Clapper about whether U.S. intelligence gathered the records of millions of Americans. Clapper said no, but had to apologize later when leaks by a former NSA systems analyst revealed the bulk collection of U.S. telephone records and email data. Encouraging news on jobs, retailers lifts stocks NEW YORK (AP) — Upbeat news about jobs and retailers helped the Standard & Poor's 500 index snap its longest losing streak of the year on Thursday. U.S. unemployment claims fell close to their lowest level in six years, the government reported, and J.C. Penney and Bed Bath & Beyond delivered encouraging news. The positive trends outweighed worries about a potential government shutdown in Washington next week. Those concerns had led the S&P 500 index to five consecutive days of declines, the index's worst run in 2013. That ended Thursday when the S&P 500 index rose six points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 1,698.67. ''There's a little bit of a bounce here,'' said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners. ''It may be a little bit of bargain hunting.'' The broad index is less than two percent below its all-time high from Sept. 18. U.S. economic growth rose to an annual rate of 2.5 percent from April through June, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That was an increase from the 1.1 percent growth in the previous quarter. Applications for unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 305,000 last week, the government said, the fewest since September 2007, three months before the Great Recession began. While the economic news was encouraging, it wasn't spectacular. Some analysts said it justified the Federal Reserve's surprise decision last week to keep up its economic stimulus. The U.S. central bank has been buying $85 bil- lion of bonds a month to keep long-term interest rates low, which has encouraged borrowing and driven up stock prices. Wall Street had expected the Fed to start easing back on its stimulus. ''It's fair to say that the Fed got it right by delaying,'' the cuts to stimulus, said Ron Florance, deputy chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. ''Growth is uninteresting and subdued.'' Growth-sensitive retail stocks were among the best performers in the 10 industry groups that make up the S&P 500 index. The group got a lift from the troubled department store owner J.C. Penney, which said it was pleased with its turnaround efforts. The company's stock ended the day up 30 cents, or 3 percent, at $10.42. Shares, however, fell more than 5 percent in after-markets trading following the company's announcement that it planned to sell up to 96.6 million shares of common stock in a public offering. It was the latest indication the chain is looking to shore up its cash reserves. Bed Bath & Beyond also gave the industry a boost. The stock climbed $3.32, or 4 percent, to $77.54 after the company said its quarterly profit increased 11 percent. Other stock indexes rose. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 55 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,328. The Nasdaq climbed 26 points, or 0.7 percent, to 3,787. In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note edged up to 2.64 percent from 2.63 percent late Wednesday. PHYSICIAN REFERRAL SERVICES AT LOWER PRICES A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE Smog Check 1-888-628-1948 All makes and models. 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