In the World

NAIROBI, Kenya - Twenty-five people were confirmed dead and others were still missing yesterday, two days after a fire swept through a supermarket in downtown Nairobi, officials said.

Joseph Mwangi, spokesman for Kenya's Disaster Management Center, said 47 people had been reported missing since Wednesday's blaze, which started at midday when the streets were packed with people. Thousands streamed out of nearby buildings as plumes of black smoke billowed into the air.

Rescue workers continued sifting through the rubble yesterday. The debris has continued to smolder, making it difficult to properly search parts of the store, police said. Authorities have said an electrical fault might be to blame for the fire.

- AP

DAVOS, Switzerland - The world's poor did not have seats at the elite World Economic Forum, but the political and corporate leaders yesterday heard fervent appeals on their behalf.

"These are the poorest people who live on less than a dollar a day, who are vulnerable to every shock that comes," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the meeting in Davos, Switzerland. "We must not waiver in our commitment to the poorest of the poor."

It was an appeal repeated throughout the third day of the gathering of 2,500 business and political leaders in the mountain resort. Forecasts calculate a precipitous drop in international investments in poor and developing nations because of the global financial meltdown.

- AP

TORONTO - Thousands of Canadian Tamils formed a human chain through Toronto's downtown yesterday to protest a Sri Lankan government offensive aimed at crushing the separatist Tamil Tigers.

The greater Toronto area is home to 200,000 Tamils, one of the largest Tamil population outside Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent. A number of protests have been staged in recent weeks.

The protesters are angry over the military offensive, which has ousted the rebels from all major towns after heavy battles in recent months.

The rebels are now cornered in a 115-square-mile area of jungle and villages where 250,000 civilians are trapped, according to the Red Cross. The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils since 1983, and were declared a terrorist organization by the United States in 1997 and by Canada in 2006.

- AP

Georgia's prime minister

resigned after three months on the job, citing health reasons. Grigol Mgaloblishvili said health problems made it difficult to give his full effort as Georgia tries to recover from its August war with Russia.

Bahrain's riot police

used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters angry with perceived government bias against the Shiite majority. The clash came after a peaceful march by 12,000 Bahrainis.