WORLD BRIEFS

LIBYA: Regime disbands 10 militia groups

President Mohammed el-Megarif said Thursday his Libyan government has disbanded about 10 militia groups and will continue to take action against Muslim extremists. El-Megarif said the attack on the U.S. Consulate earlier this month that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans was a final straw. He did not say when the militias were disbanded, or how many remain. Speaking in New York, he echoed the remarks of his neighbor, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, who announced a crackdown on extremists after they attacked the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia. Both countries face emboldened extremists trying to impose their own harsh version of Islamic law.

GERMANY: Mother accused of killing newborns

A woman killed her five infants shortly after giving birth in secret, authorities said Thursday. The woman, 28, held on five counts of manslaughter, made a "comprehensive confession" after turning herself in as a six-year investigation closed in on her, said Ulrike Stahlmann-Liebelt, the head prosecutor in Flensburg, on the Denmark border. He said the woman has two living children, aged 8 and 10. In 2006 she began hiding her pregnancies, avoided doctors and hospitals and killed the newborns, two at home and three in the woods, she said. The husband has told police he knew nothing about the pregnancies, Stahlmann-Liebelt said. It wasn't clear how she managed to keep them secret.

EAST CHINA SEA: Second typhoon aims at islands

Taiwan warned of floods and landslides as the second super typhoon in two weeks ripped through the East China Sea on Thursday and headed for islands where Chinese and Japanese vessels are in a territorial standoff. With 127-mph gusts, Super Typhoon Jelawat follows Sanba, which lashed southern Japan and South Korea, grounding aircraft and disrupting electricity. Jelawat may cross the disputed islands on a path toward the southern coast of Japan, the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.