World datelines

Canada: Gitmo denial

OTTAWA — Canada's federal government is urging the country's top court to overturn a judicial order that obligates the government to seek the repatriation of the youngest detainee held at Guantanamo Bay. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has steadfastly refused to request the return of Omar Khadr, the last Western detainee held at the prison at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. Harper has said the U.S. legal process must be allowed to play itself out. Khadr, who was born in Toronto, is now 23 years old but was only 15 when he was captured after allegedly killing an American soldier with a grenade during a 2002 battle in Afghanistan.

Brazil: Blackout probe

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil's president said Friday that he's waiting on a federal investigation to say anything more about the cause of a massive blackout earlier this week that affected 60 million people. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva backed off earlier claims by his energy minister that bad weather caused a failure in transmission lines after the government's own satellite imagery showed that lightning strikes were neither close enough nor strong enough to cause such damage.

France: Mideast plea

PARIS — Syrian President Bashar Assad urged France on Friday to support Turkish mediation efforts to get momentum in the Middle East peace process. Assad welcomed renewed indirect discussions mediated by Turkey, but appeared to dismiss suggestions of a direct meeting with Israel's prime minister.

"What would we talk about, the menu or the return of land?" Assad told reporters.

Honduras: Grenade

TEGUCIGALPA — Assailants fired an anti-tank grenade toward the building housing ballots for the upcoming Honduran presidential elections, which are taking place under the shadow of a four-month crisis caused by a coup, police said Friday. The grenade overshot the target, exploding 550 yards from the building in Tegucigalpa, police spokesman Orlin Cerrato said.

Russia: Arsenal fire

MOSCOW — Huge explosions and flames ripped through a Russian military arsenal for hours on Friday, killing two firefighters and sending personnel fleeing to a bomb shelter to wait out the worst of the firestorm, officials said. The dozens who took refuge in the shelter were at first feared trapped in the conflagration, but later emerged safe from the naval munitions facility in Ulyanovsk, a city 430 miles east of Moscow.

Rwanda: Air crash

KIGALI — The head of Rwanda's national airline says one person has died after a passenger plane crashed into the airport's VIP lounge.

The pilot had reported technical difficulties after taking off Thursday for Uganda and tried to make an emergency landing.